Sailor Moon and the Zodiac Knights
by Kamen Rider Chrome
Summary: Another series set in my ZKDverse taking place before ZKD Vol 1. Written by Ten-Faced Paladin using characters inspired from my own series. Pls, enjoy! This was a joint production by him and me, mostly him. He borrowed my OC's
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Beginnings

_In every generation, every 1,000 years, there is a great battle. 26 warriors are chosen by the Greek and Chinese Zodiac to represent them in a great battle. They are called Zodiac Knights. Some are good and some are evil. Despite this, they all do battle in this war. They do battle for a wish for anything that they desire. The winner is the one who shall receive the wish. To this end, there can only be one._

_This story tells a tale about four of these Knights._

* * *

Juuban was playing host to three new faces who had just arrived by the train. All three were boys who seemed to be at least in junior high, if not high school. They seemed to be friends, but to the casual observer, they looked like polar opposites.

The first boy wore a red jacket over a white t-shirt with jeans and his red hair was long and tied into a ponytail. He radiated warmth and friendliness. A number of the girls on the train found themselves attracted to his bright and sunny personality. His eyes were an emerald green and he seemed to be in very good shape. His name was Ryuki Leonard Hasuma. He was the son of a famous fashion designer, Emiko Narukawa Hasuma.

The second boy seemed dark and moody. He had shoulder length black hair and dark blue eyes behind a pair of horned rimmed glasses. He radiated an aura of 'stay back' and similar messages meant to keep people away from him. He was wearing dark clothes that seemed neatly pressed and respectable. His ensemble was made up of a dark buttoned up shirt with long sleeves, matching slacks, leather shoes and a purple tie around his neck. He also had on a pair of black gloves. His attitude showed that he was all business and no nonsense. His name was Ichijyo Desmond Asakuma. He was the heir of the multinational corporation, Smart Brain.

The last boy had spiked up brown hair and he seemed that one could tell that he was full of surprises He had an easy smile on his face while chatting away with a girl that he had been sitting next to. His name was Yoshiyuki Takada. He was a genius who was always working on something new. Unfortunately, it almost always involved Plutonium or something equally dangerous. How he kept getting it was anyone's guess. He was dressed in blue jeans, a blue denim jacket and black t-shirt.

"Ano," Ryuki mumbled as he looked at a travel map. "I think we're a little bit lost. I can't find where the train station we're at is on this map."

"Let me see," Ichijyo sighed as he took the map. He eyed it for a moment before his eyes narrowed as he sighed. "Leo, it's upside-down."

'Leo' was Ryuki's nickname, one that some of his friends had taken to calling him other than his given name. They still called him 'Ryuki' though. "Oh," Ryuki flinched before he bowed. "Gomen."

Ichijyo shook his head as he continued looking at the map of the district that they were in. After a couple of moments, he folded it back up and grabbed his suitcase. He remained silent before turning to Takada, who had just exchanged numbers with the girl he had been talking to.

"Are you coming or not, Mutt?" Ichijyo sighed. "Make it quick or else we're going to leave your furry behind."

"Alright, alright!" Takada sighed as he started walking to his friends. "I'm coming. Happy?"

"Not really," Ichijyo sighed as he began to lead his two friends to their destination. "I would be happier if we didn't have to be here in the first place."

"Oh, come on!" Takada sighed. "You still aren't blaming me for that incident are you?"

"Thanks to you a portion of our old school got blown up," Ichijyo commented coldly. "I think it's safe to say that, yes, I **am** still blaming **you**."

"But Ryuki was the one who made the explosion!" Takada whined, trying to get some of the heat off of him.

"Gomen," Ryuki sighed, remembering his role in the accident.

"Correction: Ryuki was protecting a number of people from the mutants you made when one of said mutant's burning body ran into your project," Ichijyo clarified.

"How was I supposed to know that my project's exhaust would make mollusks mutate into monsters like that?" asked Takada incredulously.

"Hmm," Ichijyo pondered. "I would think you would have learned by now. I thought that the plutonium-powered oven that made your sister's cake turn into a sentient being would have been enough of a clue."

"And the plutonium-powered telescope that made the fireflies caught in its sight change into monsters," Ryuki added.

"Hey, I fixed that this time!" Takada defended. "My plutonium-powered boat was completely safe for the environment...I just didn't consider mollusks coming close enough to make contact with the energy output."

"Well, they did and now a portion of our school was blown to kingdom come, again," Ichijyo sighed. "Now we have to go to this Juuban school while repairs are being done."

"Okaasan wanted me to get pictures of the Sailor Senshi while we're here," Ryuki commented, his eyes brightening as he remembered what his mother asked of him. "She says their outfits give her inspiration."

"Hey, those girls are here aren't they?" Takada grinned impishly. "Think any of them might be single?"

Ichijyo just started rubbing the bridge of his nose. He had forgotten that these so-called 'warriors of love and justice' constantly appeared in this district. He was not looking forward to meeting them. He didn't consider them really noteworthy with their poses and speeches of love and justice. He saw them more as an annoyance really.

"Why would the 'soldiers of love and justice' want a two-timing mutt like you?" Ichijyo sighed.

"Hey! That was a long time ago!" Takade growled indignantly.

"It was last week!" Ichijyo snapped back. "Those girls weren't happy when they found out, were they?"

"Shut up," Takada growled. He still had bruises from where they had found out.

"Don't fight, please," Ryuki pleaded to his friends, playing peacekeeper, "Don't fight. You know what that will lead to." Both Ichijyo and Takada nodded. Ryuki smiled, "Good, now let's go find where we're staying, okay?" Ryuki led the way but was pulled back by Ichijyo.

"I'll lead, you follow," Ichijyo said to the red haired boy.

"Hai!"

Ichijyo shook his head and sighed. He still didn't think of Ryuki being much of anything but yet the other boy still saw his as a friend. Naiveté…Ryuki was just too naïve sometimes.

These three boys were not exactly normal, despite their appearance. There was something about them that not many people knew about and it would begin…Now!

The trio heard a ringing sound in their ear and quickly tensed up. The people around them didn't seem to have noticed but these three have. They quickly went somewhere to deposit their luggage safely and then ran towards the source of the strange ringing.

They went into an area that had no one around and looking left and right to check. They then dug into their pockets and drew out identical rectangular cases. Well, they were identical in shape but not in color. Takada's was dark blue with the emblem of a dog on it, Ichijyo's was purple with what looked like a cobra emblem on it and Ryuki's was red with a dragon emblem on it. Identical belts materialized around their waists with crystal in the buckle that matched the rectangular cases in their hands. They then called out;

Takada: "Zodiac Force! Dog!"

Ichijyo: "Zodiac Force! Snake!"

Ryuki: "Zodiac Force! Dragon!"

After the call, they snapped the cases to the right side of their belts and the crystals in their belt buckles flashed with energy. When the flash of energy dispersed, the three boys were replaced by three Knights in armor. From the symbols on the cases, it was easy to know who was who.

Takada was donned in a navy blue bodysuit that had black torso armor with a silver chestplate. His gauntlets and boots were black. Strapped to his hip was a sword which had a black hilt. On his back was a long black cape which had a high collar. His head was covered by a helmet that was similar to what a European knight would wear. The visor had several vertical black slits so he could see through. The edges of the visor stuck straight up to look like pointed ears. It would actually be easy to see a resemblance between this Knight and Batman. Takada's name in this form was Zodiac Knight Pluto.

Ichijyo become covered in a black bodysuit which had a purple chestplate which looked like it was folded over his shoulders. It had silver trim and the cobra emblem was displayed proudly on the front. His gauntlets and boots were a similar shade of purple with similar silver trim. Clutched in his hand was a purple scepter which had a cobra head on the top. His helmet bore a likeness to a cobra. The face was silver with a mouth guard that looked like it might have fangs on it. Three black slits were over each eye so he could see. Ichijyo had become Zodiac Knight Shadowcobra.

Ryuki was donned in a red bodysuit with red armor and a silver chestplate. A dragon symbol was placed on the front. He was wearing red and silver boots and gauntlets. On his left arm was an armguard that looked like a red dragon's head. His helmet was red which had a dragon symbol on the headpiece on top. The eyepieces were bright green. A silver mouth guard covered his mouth. Ryuki had become Zodiac Knight Draco.

Pluto strained to listen for a moment to the ringing tone that the three Knights had heard. After a moment he began to hear it change slightly. It was breaking apart into three different tones.

"There must be more than one," he reported. "It's breaking into three new tones."

Draco and Shadowcobra listened closely for a minute before they agreed to Pluto's guess. His senses were sharper because of his position as the Dog Knight. Shadowcobra immediately took charge of the situation and stepped toward a broken mirror which had been thrown out. There were several glass shards that were littered on the ground. Thankfully, there was a large portion of the mirror left that a person could fit themselves through if they had the ability to move through glass; an ability that the three Knights possessed.

"If there are that many then we'd better move quickly," Shadowcobra spoke before stepping forward and sliding through the glass. Pluto and Draco quickly nodded before following him. The three Knights instantly entered a long tunnel which looked like it was made of glass and other reflective surfaces. In front of them were three pod-like vehicles bearing a slight color scheme that matched their armor. These were their modes of transportation in this place. They were called Knightriders.

Pluto, Shadowcobra, and Draco quickly got inside and the safety attachments strapped them in. The roar of an engine echoed through the tunnel as the Knightriders came to life and raced towards their destination.

* * *

The Sailor Senshi were in trouble and they knew it.

It had begun simply enough for them. There had been a wave of disappearances lately. The authorities were baffled because there was no trace of the missing people who had simply vanished from their homes. It smelled strange to the girls so they decided to look into it. Rei had tried the sacred fires but the response was strange. What the fires had revaled to her were three symbols. They looked similar to a dragon, a dog, and a cobra. No one had any idea what it meant so they came to the decision to keep an eye out for these symbols. The only other lead that they had was a strange frequency that the Mercury Computer had picked up when the girls had passed by where one of the people had vanished. Ami had explained that the readings had shown that the frequency was impossible to hear and very hard to trace. They only way they could follow it was if they could catch the frequency being emitted.

The girls had just finished another meeting where ideas were exchanged before everything dissolved into gossip again. Usagi, Chibi-Usa, Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako had decided to go to the Crown Arcade to relax a little when the Mercury computer started beeping to alert them of something. Before Ami could actually respond to the computer's alerts, the girls suddenly found out what the Computer was trying to warn them about.

Three humanoid monsters had leaped from a large storefront window as if it was made of water. All of them had segmented armor which shone in the light. Their faces had large eyes and a pair of antennae waving on their heads. That was all they had in common though. The leader of the trio was yellow and was holding a bow. The one on the left was red and was holding a staff. The last on was a magenta color and was holding a sword. All three of them were making clicking noises and staring at the girls hungrily.

The girls didn't hesitate in transforming into the Sailor Senshi so to fight these new 'youma'. They had thought that with the odds in their favor they could win this battle. It was quickly proven that wherever these monsters had come from, they were no slouches when it came to fighting. All three of them were agile and light on their feet. Within seconds, they had engaged the Senshi in close range combat, thus robbing the Senshi of the chance of using their magical attacks which they had come to rely on.

Jupiter was having a slightly easier time since she was an experienced fighter, but these 'youma' were still very strong. They were using their weapons sparingly, but were still winning easily. Soon the Senshi were pushed back by sheer force and were watching as the three 'youma' were slowly walking towards them with the hungry look even more evident than ever.

"_Uranus World Shaking!_"

"_Neptune Deep Submerge!_"

The three 'youma' were caught off guard when the familiar attacks of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune came crashing into them. The force of the blows sent them sailing several feet through the air before they landed on the stone surface of the ground. The Inner Senshi heaved a sigh of relief as Uranus and Neptune dashed over to them. Uranus had a somewhat smug look on her face.

"You guys are having trouble with them?" she asked. "I thought you were tougher than that."

"Hey!" Mars frowned. "These things are smarter than the usual youma we fight. They're actually working together!"

"She's right," Mercury nodded as she tried to scan the three 'youma.' "I can't even get a reading on them. It's like their bodies are reflecting the scans I make."

Uranus and Neptune both frowned at this. Apparently they now had to deal with a new enemy. They knew nothing about these new monsters, but it was a safe bet to assume that they were responsible for the number of disappearances that had been happening as of late.

"Well then," Uranus grinned as she cracked her knuckles. "I'd say it's time for some answers!"

The rest of the Senshi nodded before they turned to face the three 'youma' who had finally recovered from the blow and were facing them with their weapons ready. They were far from finished and were ready for more.

"_Aqua Shine Illusion!_"

"_Venus Crescent Beam Smash!_"

"_Pink Sugar Heart Attack!_"

"_Mars Fireball Ignite!_"

"_Jupiter Thunderclap Zap!_"

"_Uranus World Shaking!_"

"_Neptune Deep Submerge!_"

"_Moon Heart Spiral Attack!_"

The Senshi fired off their attacks one after another. They were positive that their magic would overcome these 'youma' and defeat them. The three 'youma' in question didn't seem too concerned about the incoming attack. They moved like they had been through this situation hundreds of times before. They moved into a triangle formation with their backs facing each other. They then started spinning at a pace that made them blur. To the complete amazement of the Senshi, their attacks were deflected by the speed which the three 'youma' were moving.

"No way!" Sailor Moon cried in shock.

"How can they do that?" asked Sailor Mars.

"This isn't possible!" Uranus growled behind clenched teeth.

The three 'youma' stopped spinning and broke their formation. All three of them faced the Sailor Senshi with chips and clicks, seemingly smug at their accomplishment. All three brought their weapons to bear before their personal energies ripped through them. The yellow one began firing energy bolts from his bow. The red one was stabbing his staff with streams of energy shooting out. The magenta one was slashing at the air with waves of energy flying at the Senshi. The shots weren't very accurate, but the explosions that resulted on impact gave enough force to send the Senshi flying.

The Senshi hit the ground, feeling a fair amount of pain from the explosions. Their fukus actually protected them from serious harm, but they were going to be sore after this battle. The three 'youma stopped shooting and started walking towards the girls. They could actually see the hunger oozing from their eyes. Things did not look good.

Sailor Mercury was struggling to get up along side her fellow Senshi when she heard the Mercury Computer beeping again. Reaching to it, she looked at the screen hoping that it had found a weak point to these 'youma.' Her eyes widened when she didn't see a notice about a weakness, but a notice that the frequency that accompanied these 'youma' was beginning to spike again.

"Everyone!" she cried urgently. "There's more of these youma coming!"

"What?!" Sailor Venus cried.

"Great," Sailor Mars grumbled.

Mercury watched her computer with growing dread as the frequency hit its highest point. The 'youma' seemed to hear it too and were becoming edgy, anticipating their foe who would try to come between them and their meal.

The Senshi had grouped into a circle with Chibi-Moon in the middle. The tiny Senshi was keeping an eye out for anything that could hint at whatever was coming. Her lookout paid off when she noticed a large pane of glass that was used as a display window started rippling like water.

"Look over there!" she cried, pointing to the window and catching the other Senshi's attention. They all prepared to fight again as they waited for the new opponent(s) to arrive. The 'youma' likewise prepared for a coming conflict.

The Senshi were surprised when they saw three large pod-like vehicles trimmed with either red, purple, or blue come speeding through the glass and skid to a stop near the battle. The Senshi held their breath as the vehicles began to open while the 'youma' seemed to get agitated. They obviously knew what was coming out of those vehicles. Whatever the Senshi had been expecting, they weren't expecting three armored warriors coming out of them. Judging by the way the armor was fitted to their bodies, they were obviously male. One looked like a European knight with a black cape, the second was styled after a cobra while the last was red with bright green eyes.

"Who are they?" asked Sailor Neptune.

"They're hunky!" Sailor Venus sighed with hearts in her eyes.

"This isn't the time!" Sailor Mars snapped. "They could be controlling those things!"

"I don't think so," Sailor Mercury spoke up. "The three monsters seem agitated and angry rather than subservient. I think it's safe to assume that they are enemies."

Over with the Knights, they were tense. They were eyeing down the Mirror Monsters, ready to fight.

"Trisects," Pluto grumbled as he drew his sword. "These things aren't fun."

"I know," Shadowcobra agreed. "They form a symbiotic group which allows them to share power. I heard they can deflect even a Final Vent when they're together."

"Ano," Draco commented. "Then shouldn't the easiest way to defeat them be to keep them apart?"

"A good guess for someone who hasn't faced them before," Shadowcobra acknowledged. "That's one of two ways to ensure beating them. It's probably the best since we have witnesses here. The other way is to overpower them with an incredible amount of force."

"Oh," Draco nodded before he turned to see just who was watching. His eyes widened underneath his visor when he saw who was watching. "Sugoi! It's the Sailor Senshi!"

"Huh?" Pluto grunted, turning to see what Draco was seeing. His face underneath his helmet lit up when he saw them. "Hey, you're right. They look a whole lot better in person."

"Idiots," Shdowcobra grumbled. "We'll deal with them later. Can we deal with the Trisects now?"

"Sure," Pluto.

"You bet!" Draco said excitedly.

"Let's go! I'll take the magenta one with the staff!" Shadowobra announced as his scepter extended into a full battle staff.

"I'll take the red one with the sword!" Pluto yelled as he dashed towards his chosen opponent, his cape flapping behind him.

"That leaves me with the yellow one then," Draco said as he rushed forward into battle.

Shadowcobra ducked under the Magenta Trisect's staff swing and jabbed it in the stomach with the head of his staff, causing it to double over. At that instant, Shadowcobra swung his leg up and kicked it in the face and sending it staggering back in pain. The purple cobra Knight then went into a reverse roundhouse but his opponent had blocked his attack with its staff. Of course Shadwocobra then leapt up and used his other foot to kick it in the chest before swinging his staff down on its head.

"Change of tactics," Shadowcobra hissed as he drew a card from the case attached to his belt. Depicted on it was yellow spiral saber with a jagged edge and purple basket hilt. He then slid it inside his staff. "_Sword Vent: Snake Coil Sabre!_" He retracted his staff back into a scepter and slipped it back into its holster on his belt before his new weapon, the sword depicted on the card, appeared in his hand, much to the Senshi's surprise. The Trisect clicked its mandibles and went on the attack, however…

"Now you see me," Shadowcobra said mockingly before he vanished, "Now you don't!" The Senshi gasped as they watched Shadowcobra vanish into thin air.

"Hey, where did he go?" Sailor Venus exclaimed in shock, watching where Shadowcobra had been.

The Trisect's swung its staff where Shadowcobra was but hit nothing but air. However, sparks soon ripped off its body as it was being attacked by an invisible foe.

"He turned invisible," Sailor Uranus said in surprise. To fight an opponent that one could not see was terrifying. It didn't bode well with her at all.

Pluto, meanwhile, was fighting sword to sword with the Red Trisect. The insectoid monster was a good monster and it was proving troublesome for Pluto who wanted to take it down. He wanted to do it as fast as possible because he wanted to impress the Sailor Senshi. He pulled back an arm and swung his fist straight at the monster. It raised its sword to block but then realized too late that it had been a fake move before Pluto executed a roundhouse kick into its midsection. He then stabbed his sword into its chest, sending it staggering back.

"You're good, but I have you outnumbered," Pluto said as he drew a card. It depicted five identical images of his helmet. He smirked under his helmet and slid it into his sword, "_Trick Vent: Duplication!_" As soon as he announced the card, 4 duplicates of himself appeared from behind him, shocking the Senshi again.

"How'd he do that?" Sailor Jupiter asked in surprise. Sailor Mercury was recording the whole battle and had seen Pluto use his card.

"He used a card," Sailor Mercury analyzed, "How intriguing."

The Trisect was confused as the 5 Plutos moves around in a circle. It charged and swung but it missed and was slashed several times when the 5 of its opponents began attacking it at once.

Draco ducked under an energy arrow and rolled under another one. They kept coming at him. He then jumped up and pointed a finger at the Yellow Trisect and then he fired a flaming arrow at it, sending it flying back as the shot exploded.

Sailor Moon shouted, "Mars, he's like you!"

Sailor Mars narrowed her eyes, watching the battle.

Draco then got close enough and went into a sweep kick, sending it falling to the ground he then stopped the creature from moving before using his telekinesis and sending it flying into a wall. He then did the same thing by pulling it back and slamming it against the wall repeatedly. He was getting really good with his telekinesis as Shadowcobra had observed. At the 5th slam, the Yellow Trisect sent another energy arrow at Draco but then the Knight vanished in a vortex of flames. Recovering from its previous humiliating assault, the Yellow Trisect looked around for its opponent, but then…

"Up here!" Draco shouted as he dropped down and smashed his elbow upon the Trisect's head. It staggered, disoriented but then got a fist in the face before Draco grabbed its head and gave it a crushing head butt. He then smashed his knee into the Trisect's face before sending it flying with a telekinetic blast.

"Let's finish this!" Shadowcobra called as he reappeared and then slammed his hand on the ground. Black chains erupted from the shadows under the Magenta Trisect's feet, restraining it. It struggled but could not move.

"Got it!" Pluto nodded as he drew a card and slid it into his sword, "_Nasty Vent: Supersonic Screech!_" After that announcement, he sent a sonic scream at the Red Trisect, disorienting it. The Senshi were forced to cover their ears.

"Eek!" Sailor Moon screamed. The other Senshi were screaming in pain as well.

"Hai!" Draco trapped the Yellow Trisect in a vortex of fire.

The three Knights then simultaneously drew out the cards they would need to end this battle in their favor: their Final Vent. Each one bore their respective symbol, gold in front of a shining background of their color. They then slid the card simultaneously into their respective card readers.

"_FINAL VENT!_"

Mercury's computer began to act up again. She warned the others, "More of those youma are coming!" As she said this, the 'youma' in question had arrived.

A red dragon flew out of a window as it roared out loud followed by a large purple king cobra that was hissing menacingly. Finally, a large blue and three headed dog appeared and howled/growled/barked from all three heads. The Senshi tensed up. Were these monsters friends or foe?

They would soon get their answer as the Senshi witnessed the 3 Knights using their Final Vent attacks.

The Knights then joined their monsters. The red dragon flew around Draco as he got ready to execute his attack, going into a classic flying kick pose after flipping through the air. The dragon hovered behind its master before unleashing a stream of fire, sending Draco hurling towards the yellow Trisect.

Draco called, "DRAGON COMBUSTION KICK!"

Shadowcobra charged at his target, followed close behind by the giant purple snake. He then did a leap and did a back flip before being launched forward by a stream of acid and venom, spewed from the mouth of the cobra and performing a bicycle kick.

Shadowcobra called, "GENOCIDE CRUSH!"

Pluto leapt and landed on the three headed dog's back as it charged, engulfing its body in blue energy. A lance appeared in Pluto's hand and they both rushed at their target like a Knight in a jousting tournament.

Pluto called, "FROZEN HUNTER!"

Draco's kick collided with his Trisect, causing it to be launched back several feet in a haze of flames. Shadowcobra hit his Trisect, making it backpedal with every kick that was placed on it The last Trisect couldn't move in time to avoid Pluto and his dog. When the attacks collided with the monsters, they all exploded into a large blast of flames. The Senshi had to shield their eyes from the brightness. As the light died down, the all saw their rescuers standing alongside their monsters apparently waiting for something.

Sailor Mercury had been trying to scan them from the start but she was met with the same result as when she tried to scan the monsters. What she did find though, were three large sources of concentrated energy coming from the centre of the three explosions.

"Everyone!" she called. "The sources of power of those three monsters are still active!"

"What?!" Jupiter cried. "Shouldn't we try to find them then?"

"It might give us some answers," Uranus agreed. "Let's go."

The Senshi started racing towards the scene of the battle, hoping to get some kind of clue to where the 'youma' had come from. They kept the three centres of the explosions in sight, but before they could get close enough, Shadowcobra planted himself in front of them.

"That's close enough," the Snake Knight spoke as he held out his hand in front of them.

"Huh?" Sailor Moon blinked. "But there's something still there. We have to make sure that it can't hurt anyone."

"I know," Shadowcobra nodded. "It won't. We'll make sure of it."

The Senshi wanted to argue some more, but their attention was captured by three large orbs of energy that had been hovering in the air and rising from the flames.

"Get out of the way!" Uranus shouted. "We need those orbs!"

"Too bad," Shadowcobra sighed. "So do we. Genosnaker, feeding time!"

"Chow down, Cerberus!" Pluto called.

"It's all yours, Dragonzer," Draco nodded to his monster.

The three monsters all made their various sounds of delight as they dove for the spheres. The Senshi could only watch as the dragon, cobra, and dog swallowed their only lead to the monsters that had attacked them. The monsters made sounds of content before they all dove back into the glass that they had appeared out of. The three Knights were also heading back to their vehicles.

"Wait!" Sailor Moon cried, catching the Knight's attention. "Who are you guys?"

Shadowcobra spoke up first before Pluto or Draco could try to become friends with them. They didn't need the Senshi's help. It seemed like the Senshi would need their help more often than not.

"You don't need to know," the Snake Knight answered before turning back to his Knightrider.

A few of the Senshi felt a little insulted at how the purple Knight just shrugged them off. The other two Knights didn't seem to completely agree with their comrade's words and stepped forward.

"Don't worry about Scaleface here. My name's Pluto." the blue Knight spoke, introducing himself. The Sailor Senshi stared. His name was Pluto too? "I take it you are the Sailor Senshi?" The Sailor Senshi nodded.

"My name's Draco," the red Knight added. "Hajimemashite," he greeted politely before giving the Sailor Senshi a bow. The Senshi bowed awkwardly. "Our friend here is Shadowcobra."

The purple Knight now known as Shadowcobra heaved an annoyed sigh before turning back to his friends. It was times like this that he really questioned himself as to why he was friends with them in the first place, but that was before he recalled all that they had been through together and remembered that was why he was friends with them. Walking over to his fellow Knights, he grabbed them by the shoulders and began dragging them back to the Knightriders.

"We don't have time to make small talk," he sighed in agitation. "We have more important things to do."

"We do?" asked Pluto before looking back at the Senshi. "I think we have something pretty important to do right here."

"We do?" asked Draco, looking at Pluto. "What would that be?"

"Ignore the Mutt and his magical girl fantasies," Shadowcobra hissed as he deposited his fellow Knights by their means of transportation.

Knowing that he wasn't going to win this argument, Pluto heaved a sigh before getting into his Knigthrider. There would be other opportunities to try and get a date from at least one of the Senshi. He didn't want to risk his life at the moment against Shadowcobra's ire. Draco just shrugged and entered his own Knightrider. Shadowcobra did the same, happy to be leaving the Senshi behind. It wasn't enough that they were idealistic fools, but that Sailor Moon seemed to have an object that made every fiber in his body shiver.

The Inners tried to get the Knights to stop, but their calls were ignored as the pod vehicles came to life and drove through a pane of glass, vanishing again.

"Those guys are soooo hunky!" Sailor Venus giggled to herself.

"This isn't the time to be boy crazy!" Sailor Mars snapped before she and the rest of the Senshi resumed their civilian forms. The appearance of the monsters had caused all civilian life to vacate very quickly.

"Rei's right," Haruka nodded grimly. "Those guys might be the ones responsible for this entire mess. Did you see how they controlled those three large monsters?"

"But, they helped us," Usagi protested.

"But they also removed the only evidence of the new youma that we had: those orbs," Michiru countered. "We could have found out everything we needed to know from those spheres."

"How can guys that hunky be evil?" asked Minako.

"Yeah," Makoto agreed. "That red one reminded me of my old sempai. He was also very polite."

Michiru giggled while Haruka sighed. Those two were so boy crazy it was scary sometimes. Both Outers knew that there was at least one source of information that they could turn to. It would be their fellow housemate and Senshi, Sailor Pluto. If she didn't have any information on this new enemy then there really was something to worry about.

While the other girls were talking and/or contemplating, Rei was recalling her fire reading. What she had seen were symbols for a dragon, a snake, and a dog. It didn't take a genius to see that those symbols represented the warriors they had just met. Especially after seeing them control the large dragon, the giant cobra, and the three-headed dog. Whatever was coming, those three were going to be a large part of it.

* * *

Within her own private area where the Gates of Time were kept, Sailor Pluto had witnessed the entire battle. She was surprised the see the Mirror Monsters appear like they had. She was even more surprised to see three Zodiac Knights arrive to fight them. A lot of questions were going through her mind and she would have to confer with her future self to get a number of details that she would need soon. Before she could actually do this operation, someone interrupted her concentration.

"How are you, Se-chan?" a masculine voice spoke out.

Sailor Pluto quickly turned around to be faced with a figure donned in armor that seemed golden in some parts and crimson in others. A cape hung down his shoulders. His features were all hidden by his helmet and on his hand was a staff which had a dragon, a phoenix, a turtle, and a tiger on the head. This person was the guardian of all the Zodiac Knights and someone who many powerful people feared and respected. His name was Zodiac Knight Libra.

"Hello, Libra-sama," Sailor Pluto bowed respectfully. Anyone who saw her do this would be rather surprised. She would only bow for her former queen and the princess.

"Now, Se-chan," Libra chuckled. "I thought we were on more comfortable terms than that."

Heaving an amused sigh, Sailor Pluto allowed herself a smile, "I suppose we are. To answer your question, I am well. I was just looking over a confrontation between Zodiac Knights and some Mirror Monsters. The Senshi were almost their dinner I regret to admit."

"Nothing to be ashamed about," Libra replied, stepping forward to see the images being played. "Mirror Monsters vary in strength and it was their bad luck to be facing some of the more powerful ones."

"That is not what worries me," Sailor Pluto frowned. "The Mirror Monsters haven't come to Juuban before. They even arrived before any Zodiac Knights came. Why are they acting up now?"

"It could be for any number of reasons," Libra replied as he continued to watch the fight. Inside, he was proud of his son and his friends for fighting to protect people. He was also hoping that his son would catch the eye of one of the Senshi and finally get a girlfriend. Ryuki needed some female company for a change. "The Mirror Monsters might not have known about this area until now, or the growing amount of magic might have attracted some..."

"What is it?" asked Sailor Pluto, noticing one of her few friends growing quiet.

"...or someone planted bait to attract them," Libra finally answered. "It could be any number of reasons. It's hard to tell at this point."

"What?" Sailor Pluto gasped. "Are you sure? Why would anyone do that?"

"Yoshido's men are not known for their sanity," Libra sighed. "Even if there is some evil purpose behind the Mirror Monsters' appearance."

"If it is then you have to let me tell the other Senshi!" Sailor Pluto cried. "If it is evil, then most likely it is a Black Zodiac Knight! I need to warn the Senshi about them."

"Hmm," Libra pondered. "You have a valid point. The Black Knights are not a force to take lightly. If you truly wish to tell the Senshi then you will have to ask Fuji. I may be the judge, but he is the one who made a good portion of the rules."

"I see," Sailor Pluto sighed before trying to brighten her looks to change the subject. "So, how is Emiko?"

"Very well," Libra replied fondly. "I still miss her but I am thankful that I am able to see her when I can. Even if my children believe I am dead."

"It could not be helped," Sailor Pluto spoke. "You are the impartial judge after all."

"Maybe," Libra nodded before gazing at Sailor Pluto. "By the way, congratulations on defeating Pharaoh 90. He was a heavy hitter on Yoshido's side. It isn't easy defeating a god, is it?"

"No," Sailor Pluto sighed tiredly. "It isn't. I am just thankful that Hotaru wasn't the Messiah of Silence after all. Sailor Saturn will be a valuable ally in the days to come."

"Just remember that she is still a child," Libra reminded her. "Let her enjoy her childhood whenever she can."

"We of all people should know that lesson," Sailor Pluto agreed. "Can I assume that you are here to tell me what I can and cannot tell the other Senshi?"

"Among other things," Libra nodded. "The secret of the Zodiac Knights must be kept. If the Knights decide to tell the Senshi then feel free to add what you know. Everything else must be kept a secret at all costs."

"I understand," Sailor Pluto nodded. "What of these 'other things' that you mentioned?"

"Well, I am the guardian of the Zodiac Knights," Libra shrugged. "The others are keeping low for the time being. I can tell that these three here are going to be in something big soon. Besides, it allows me to catch up with an old friend."

Sailor Pluto allowed herself a fleeting smile. As lonely as she got sometimes, a little company was very much appreciated.

* * *

Ichijyo was walking ahead of both Ryuki and Takada. The Snake Knight of Invisibility was wearing a look of annoyance on his face. It could be a lot of reasons but a lot of things annoyed Ichijyo.

"Ichijyo," Ryuki began as he walked up ahead so that he was walking beside his friend, "I still think that we could've greeted the Senshi better."

Takada hopped over so that he was walking alongside his friend as well, "Kid's right. Besides, those girls were awfully cute." He then added in his mind, '_And those skirts show a lot of leg! Sexy!_'

Ichijyo stopped in his steps and turned around to regard his two colleagues and said, "The Senshi would only get in the way if we allied with them and would be more of a liability rather than an asset. Did you see how weak they were against those Mirror Monsters? Face it; it would be _us_ helping _them_ instead of the other way around!" He turned on his heels and walked away with them following him again.

"Only because they didn't know what they were dealing with, Ichijyo," Ryuki defended, "The monsters they fought before were not like the ones we fight now."

"That's their problem, not ours. I still can't believe that the fate of the Earth is in the hands of girls in sailor suits and mini-skirts!" Ichijyo said heatedly.

"Well, they have protected this part of Tokyo longer than us. We're still pretty much new," Takada said.

"Takada, let me remind you that we've been Knights for awhile now and fought the first band of Yoshido's Black Knights Guild. Face it, if those Senshi were to face one of the Black Knights, they'd be dead and we'd end up having to save them."

Ryuki and Takada sighed.

Ichijyo, meanwhile, was thinking, '_That girl with the buns and ponytails in her hair was causing my senses to go haywire. I didn't like it_.'

Ryuki noticed the speculative look on his friend's face. Pondering whether or not he should ask if something was the matter, the Dragon Knight's kind personality won out. "Ichijyo? Is something wrong?" Ryuki asked in concern

"Yeah," Takada agreed. "You're looking a little creeped out. Usually you're the one creeping everyone else out."

"It's nothing," Ichijyo replied, quickening his pace. "Come on. We have to get our things to our apartment."

Ryuki and Takada watched him go for a moment before shrugging and racing to catch up with him. Sometimes it was better not to ask.

* * *

The girls had reconvened at the temple which they had left a minute ago. This was not something that could wait to be discussed another day. Those three warriors that had saved their butts had dominated those monsters. What was creepier was that they had bigger monsters of their own at their beck and call.

"I don't like them," Haruka stated plainly. "They are able to move through glass like you told us those monsters can and they can also control monsters. There are too many common factors between them."

"We should corner them and ask them what the monsters did with the missing people," Michiru nodded. "They would probably know."

"They way they fought was something else," Makoto mentioned. "Each of them seemed to have their own powers. Like the purple one making chains come out of the shadows to trap one of the monsters and then turning invisible."

"The red one could use fire like Rei can," Usagi pondered. "He was also moving that monster without even touching it. How did he do that?"

"Telekinesis," Ami answered while typing away at her computer, "The power to move things just with the power of the mind. It's an incredible ability that people often say can't be done. Yet, he did it and made it look easy at the same time."

"Why were they using cards though?" asked Minako. "I mean, they just popped one into their weapons and POW they get a weapon, a new power or make one of those really big monsters come out of nowhere!"

"Do you have any idea what was going on with that, Ami?" asked Rei.

"Hmm," Ami pondered as she continued typing. "Well, those warriors were hard to scan. Their armor had the same characteristics as the monsters' bodies, but I was able to get something."

"Really?" asked Chibi-Usa. "What did you find?"

"Well," Ami began. "It seems that the source of these warriors' power is tied to their belts. The cases that we saw where they drew their cards from seem to complete a circuit that allows them to fully use their abilities. The rest of their armor deflected my scans. Sorry."

"So if we destroy those cases then we cut off their power," Haruka nodded. "Good to know."

"But we aren't sure if they're enemies yet!" Usagi cried.

"I'm just staying on the side of caution," Haruka shrugged. "Why should we trust them if we can't see their faces?"

"But lots of heroes wear masks!" Minako argued. "Maybe these guys have enemies that would take advantage of their identities if they knew them!"

"Then we wouldn't want to deal with them," Michiru countered. "We're better off avoiding them if they have enemies like that. We have enough of our own."

"It wouldn't matter anyway," said a new voice, "The enemies those three Knights have would come anyway and would not let anything stop them." The girls turned to face the oldest Senshi, Setsuna Meioh

The Senshi greeted Setsuna who sat down with the others.

"What do you mean 'Knights'?" Michiru questioned, "You know who they are?"

"Of course," Setsuna nodded, "I am the Guardian of the Gates of Time, aren't I? I see all."

"So, who are they?" Haruka asked.

"And do they look cute under those helmets?" Minako asked eagerly, earning strange stares from her friends. "What? It's a good question. It's not like you all weren't thinking the same thing."

"To answer your question, Haruka," Setsuna said with a serious frown, "I cannot tell you who they really are." Minako groaned while Haruka bristled.

"Why not?" Haruka asked in an agitated tone but Michiru coaxed her to calm down.

"Because, Haruka, the Zodiac Knights are not under my jurisdiction," Setsuna replied.

"Zodiac…Knights?" Chibi-Usa repeated.

"Yes, Zodiac Knights," Setsuna confirmed, "That is what they are called. But, I can tell you that the three Knights who assisted you are not evil."

"See, I told you!" Minako gloated at Michiru and Haruka.

"Minako, I'm not finished yet," Setsuna told the blonde girl and she calmed down. After talking to Libra, and Fuji later on, Setsuna was allowed to tell the collective Senshi about the Zodiac Knights, minus their secret identities. This would be both informative and confusing to the girls. "Before I begin, you must all swear what we will talk about will remain a sealed secret. You can never tell this to anyone unless a Knight or myself tells you otherwise. Do you all swear?"

It took a moment for the gathered young women to adjust to the severity of Setsuna's words. After a moment, they all nodded. If it was this serious for Setsuna to swear them to secrecy, then it was something that they needed to hear.

"Good," Setsuna nodded. "Now remember that some of my information is ancient even compared to myself and the Time Gates. This happened before the Gates were even created so please pay attention and try to keep an open mind."

"Wait," Michiru gasped. "Older than the Time Gates?"

"Yes, now would you listen?" Setsuna frowned slightly. When Michiru nodded, she began to tell her story. "I assume that you are all familiar with the Chinese and Greek Zodiacs? Well, a long time ago, the celestial deities who represent those sign all went into a great battle to determine who would be where. Twenty-six powerful, immortal beings fought in this war."

"Twenty-six?" asked Rei. "Shouldn't be there twenty-four? There are only twelve signs each."

"Normally true," Setsuna nodded. "But there are reasons for this. Gemini is two beings. It represents twins if you recall. The other reason is that a celestial deity representing the cat fought as well."

"Hey, I know that story!" Usagi smiled brightly. "The cat got tricked by the rat and wasn't chosen to be part of the zodiac because he wasn't there!"

"To my knowledge, the cat was there," Setsuna replied. "Perhaps the rat was the one to defeat it, but the fact remains that the cat is not part of the zodiac so I assume that something happened to cause this. As I was saying, these deities did battle for placement on the zodiac."

"What does this have to do with those Knights?" asked Makoto curiously.

"I was getting to that. Be patient," Setsuna answered. "About 1,000 years after this war, the deities wished to do battle again to see which sign was strongest yet again. However, they had hit somewhat of a snag."

"Snag?" asked Haruka.

"The last battle they had created a massive explosion which is still known today," Setsuna replied. "I believe we call it the Big Bang."

"What?!" Ami gasped in shock. "Their battle created the universe as we know it?"

"Yes," Setsuna nodded. "So to avoid something like this from happening again, two gods agreed to oversee a tournament. One was good personified while the other was evil."

"So what were the rules to this tournament?" asked Raye.

"Twenty-six beings were chosen to represent the signs," Setsuna explained. "They would be given decks of cards which supplied them with their weapons and other abilities. They would do battle with each other until only one was left."

"That's harsh," Michiru gasped in slight shock.

"There are a few more rules though," Setsuna continued. "To properly activate the power of these cards, the Knights all had to make a contract with a beast from another realm."

"Another realm?" asked Chibi-Usa.

"The realm that these monsters come from is called the Mirror Dimension, or Mirror World," Setsuna continued. "They are called Mirror Monsters. The Knights were to choose one and make a contract with it. Like those three Knights had the snake, dragon, and dog with them. The monsters unlock their own various abilities. They also add their own level to the tournament."

"What kind?" asked Ami.

"These monsters must be properly cared for or else they will break the contract and attack their Knights," Setsuna answered. The Senshi all shivered. "The monsters all feed in two ways. One way is when they are contracted to a Knight and a monster is destroyed. The orbs you saw are the core power of the Mirror Monsters. They can eat one of those and stay fed and happy."

"What's the other way?" asked Minako.

Setsuna seemed to look glum at the moment. This was what she was hoping to avoid, but it seemed that there was no real way around it. She knew that the other Senshi were not going to like it, especially the Inners. Bracing herself, Setsuna answered their question.

"The second way that Mirror Monsters feed...is to come to our world and grab a human," she spoke.

All remained silent at that answer. The shock of the answer really hit hard as all the connections were made by the Senshi. Usagi showed the first reactions when she started tearing up. Minako, Ami, and Chibi-Usa were close behind. Michiru leaned onto Haruka and grabbed her hand tightly. Rei and Makoto were both silent at the declaration.

"All those people," Usagi sniffled. "All those lives lost. Why?"

"They're bait," Setsuna sighed. "When the Monsters come to this world, they give off a tone which only a Zodiac Knight can hear. It calls the Zodiac Knights to the monster. It allows them to meet each other to fight while fighting the monster as well. The bright side though is that the Mirror World is only accessible when the tournament is going on. After that, it's sealed again until the next tournament. The monsters apparently love the taste of human or else they wouldn't keep jumping into our world whenever they get the chance."

"What's the point of all this?" demanded Haruka. "Why are the people chosen to fight do this? What's in it for them?"

"Everything," Setsuna stated simply.

"Excuse me?" Michiru asked, now confused.

"The people who are chosen to fight don't do it for free," Setsuna spoke. "There is a grand prize in it for them. The Knight who is the last one standing gets a wish. One that can be anything he wants."

"Really?" asked Rei. "Twenty-five Knights lose their lives, not to mention how many people become snack food for the monsters, and they get the one wish? How can one wish cost that much?"

"When you can wish for anything in the universe, no price is too steep," Setsuna sighed. "Luckily, there are several Knights who fight to protect people from the Mirror Monsters. That is one of the stipulations of the contest. Half of the Knights have to be good people. People who will protect others or wish for something that will help rather than harm. Unfortunately, the other thirteen Knights are evil and greedy, prepared to do anything to make sure that they are the ones who win the tournament."

The Senshi were silent again at hearing this. So much pain for a single wish that may be able to take it all away. Was it really worth it?

* * *

Elsewhere in Juuban, there was a young man who was sitting behind a crate where he held a coin tied to a string. It was hoisted over a drawing of the three symbols of the Zodiac Knights of the dragon, snake, and dog. The young man seemed to look most like a high school student with black hair. What was odd was that his eyes were glowing in the shadow he was sitting in.

"The trio has arrived in the domain of the princesses," he murmured to himself. "I can't see whether it is for good or for ill."

His eyes stopped glowing as he heaved a sigh. Turning to his side, he gazed at another drawing he had made while he was in another trance. This one had the symbol of the snake next to the symbol of Saturn. It was being held down by a rectangular case that was blue with a gold symbol of Pisces imprinted on it.

"But I will in time," the young man sighed before placing his things in his pocket and getting up. "Tomorrow is another day full of possibilities."

To Be Continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Knights on the Town

A taxi stopped in front of an apartment complex before the doors swung open, two in the back and another in the passenger side. The trunk also swung open. Ichijyo, who was in the passenger seat, paid the taxi driver before exiting the vehicle. Both Ryuki and Takada were already taking out their luggage from the trunk of the car. The taxi then drove off as Ryuki waved at it.

"So, this is where we'll be staying?" Takada asked.

"Yes," Ichijyo said as he peered at the entire building, "The apartment may not even be that much, but it will still be adequate for our stay here. The movers will arrive with the rest of our things later in the day, so, let's get the move on, shall we."

"Okay!" Ryuki beamed as he carried his luggage and headed for the elevator, running past his two friends excitedly. Ichijyo just groaned and shook his head at his friend's hyperactivity while Takada chuckled.

"How he survived this long is a miracle," Ichijyo sighed.

"Well, you gotta give the kid points for enthusiasm," Takada replied.

The two older boys then followed Ryuki towards the elevator, walking like normal people of course, before the elevator came down. The three of them then went in and pressed the floor number. It then took them to the right floor before the doors opened and they walked out, carrying their luggage. Ryuki was ahead of them.

"You better be careful, Ryuki," Ichijyo warned. "This is a narrow path so you might accidentally bump into someone."

"Relax, Ichijyo," Ryuki smiled back, "I'm not that clumsy." Of course, as luck would have it, he accidentally bumped into a few girls and they all fell. His luggage fell out of his hands.

"That contradicts your previous statement, my friend," Ichijyo joked.

"Ah, gomen nasai!" Ryuki apologized as he began helping the girls up.

"Hey, watch where…you're…going?" the girl began to say before her eyes stared at him wide. The girl had long blonde hair and a red bow in her hair.

Ryuki bowed again, "Ah, gomen nasai!" He apologized while bowing repeatedly to the girl. There were three others. One was blonde with her hairs in buns and long blonde pigtails, a girl with chin length blue hair and a tall girl with brown hair in a ponytail.

"It's no problem," the girl said with a bright smile. '_Wow, he's cute!_'

Takada, seeing the girls, smirked and walked over, placing a hand affectionately on Ryuki's and ruffling his hair, "What my friend here is trying to say that he's sorry for bumping into you lovely ladies. My name is Yoshiyuki Takada. Some people call me Takada but you can call me 'Yoshi-kun'." He grinned at the girls.

Ichijyo rolled his eyes as Takada attempted to flirt with the girls and then walked over, annoyed. He then hit Takada over the head with his suit case.

"Hey!" Takada yelled, "That hurt!" Ichijyo ignored the outburst.

"Greetings," Ichijyo bowed politely. "We've just moved here today and were wondering if you could help us find our apartment. I think we're a little lost."

"We'd be happy to!" the brunette smiled happily before turning to her friends. "Wouldn't we, girls?"

"Oh yeah!" the blonde with the ribbon smiled.

"Absolutely!" the blonde with the ponytails agreed.

"Yes," the bluenette nodded. "We'd be happy to."

"Arigatou," Ryuki smiled as he bowed. "I suppose it would only be polite to introduce ourselves. My name is Ryuki Leonard Hasuma."

"Hmmm," Ichijyo sighed. He really did like his privacy but that was no excuse for being rude. "My name is Ichijyo Desmond Amakusa. It's a pleasure."

The girls all giggled at the introductions save for the short-haired girl. She seemed to gasp in surprise when she heard the two boys' names. Ryuki hadn't noticed it but Inchijyo did. One didn't get to where he was by ignoring details. The girl obviously recognized their names. Most likely it was from their parents, but he still didn't like it when someone did recognize him.

"Well hi, boys!" the blonde with the ribbon smiled. "My names Minako Aino. I'm a senior at school and my measurements are-"

"My name is Makoto Kino!" the brunette quickly introduced, much to Takada's dismay. He had wanted to hear that last bit of information from Minako. "I hope we get along since we're going to live in the same building."

"My name is Usagi Tsukino!" the second blonde introduced with a bright smile. "You can call me Usagi-chan!"

"My name is Ami Mizuno," the last girl introduced politely. "Welcome to the Juuban district."

"Welcome indeed," Ichijyo nodded before taking a slip of paper from his pocket. "Kino-san, you mentioned you live in this building? Perhaps you can tell us where our apartment is."

"I'll do my best," Makaoto giggled as she took the paper and took a look at it. It was a moment before a large grin came across her face before she looked up at the three boys who had taken a moment to recover their luggage. "I know exactly where this is! It's right next to my apartment. I'll show you the way, c'mon!"

Minako and Makoto quickly took the lead while Ami and Usagi had stuck behind their friends. Ichijyo, Ryuki, and Takada each took their luggage and let the girls lead the way. They did keep a moderate amount of distance. For Ryuki, it was because he didn't want to crash into the girls again if they stopped suddenly. Ichijyo liked to keep his personal space while Takada was checking out the girls and pondering which one he'd try to take out on a date first.

Meanwhile, the girls were speaking amongst themselves as Makoto led the way to the apartment that the boys were looking for.

"Mako-chan!" Minako whined as she walked beside her tall friend. "Is their apartment really beside yours?"

"Yep!" Makoto giggled. "Can you believe it? I'm so lucky! Three handsome guys right next to me! Maybe sooner or later one of them would like to move in with me!"

"Oooh! Mako-chan!" Usagi whined loudly. "It's not fair! Why do you get to live next to three hunks when I have to walk so far to visit my Mamo-chan?"

"That's fate," Makoto giggled. "Hey Ami, which one do you like?"

"Hmm?" Ami blinked. She hadn't been paying attention to what her friends were saying. "Oh, I don't think I'll try dating them. I have too much on my plate as it is."

"Huh?" Minako gaped. "Ami-chan! Why not? Guys that hot don't come around very often! You have to bite this in the hind end!"

"You mean nip it in the bud?" asked Makoto, knowing Minako's horrible memory for sayings.

"Same thing," Minako shrugged. "Besides, it's not like there are fangirls to stop you or something."

"Actually," Ami replied. "I think there might be."

"Huh?" the three girls blinked.

Knowing that she'd better explain or get pestered for it, Ami began, "Well, I'm not entirely sure but I do know Ryuki and Ichijyo's last names. I'm not sure where but I know I've heard them before. I'll have to search but I just know I've heard them."

"What about Yoshi-kun?" asked Makoto.

"Well, I'm sure I've heard his name before," Ami replied. "He's someone who gets published into several scientific journals because of some of his inventions. I've read some mentions of him in some of the more serious cases of mutation thanks to radiation."

"You mean he messes with nuclear weapons?!" Usagi gaped.

"Oh no!" Ami denied. "Never with weapons. Well, unless he thinks there's a good reason. The works I've read about usually deal with using an alternate fuel source. Despite the numerous failures he's had with it, he still gets back up and keeps going. I can't help but be inspired."

Despite the girls trying to keep the conversation silent, Takada could still hear them thanks to his heightened sense of hearing. When he heard Ami explaining a little about their names, he couldn't help but grin. Ryuki had managed to notice the smile.

"Takada-san?" Ryuki blinked. "What are you smiling about?"

"Oh, just the fact that Ami-chan knows a little about our names," Takada replied.

"What?" Ichijyo asked sternly. "What exactly does she know?"

"Nothing important," Takada shrugged. "She's just heard you and Leo's last names before but she's not sure where. Now me, on the other hand, have been found in medical texts and other scientific journals on inventions and such."

"I'm not surprised," Ichijyo sighed. "With the amount of destruction and mutations you've caused, we should have a whole book on new ways of treating radiation poisoning. I'm surprised that you aren't sterile by now."

"Ha!" Takada smirked. "You only think I don't prepare for that!"

"...I'm not even going to answer that," Ichijyo grimaced. "In fact, I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear you say that and I'll be happier for it."

"Sure, Scaleface," Takada sighed, before brightening up. "Anyhow, Ami-chan says that I inspire her. Maybe I should try to 'inspire' her a little more."

A whack to the back of the head from Ichijyo was his answer, "You just met the girl five minutes ago! Don't you have any shame?"

Takada, rubbing the back of his head, merely grinned, "Hey, when looking for love, there's no time like the present. Besides, with us living next door to that Makoto girl, I bet we'll be seeing those girls a lot."

"No thank you, Mutt," Ichijyo muttered. He wasn't the romantic type, at least not an open one. The last relationship he had ended quite sadly. He just didn't want to endure that kind of pain anymore. He rubbed the spot on his chest where his heart was. '_Misha…_'

Ryuki, of course, was only happy to make new friends. He just hoped that Takada and Ichijyo's constant arguing wouldn't drive the girls away.

"Here we are," Makoto said to the three boys. "Your apartment, boys."

Ichijyo walked over and said to Makoto, "Thank you," before turning to the door, unlocking it and then opening it up to quickly enter it. The girls looked on curiously.

"What's his problem?" Minako asked.

"Oh, he's the anti-social Goth type," Takada replied, "You get used to it. He's a jerk most of the time."

"But," Ryuki added, "He's a very good friend once you get to know him. I believe, deep down, he cares about others."

"Takada, Hasuma, get in NOW!" Ichijyo called them from inside the apartment.

"Well, we'll be seeing you ladies!" Takada saluted.

"Ja ne," Ryuki bowed before both teenage boys carried their luggage into their apartment and then locking the door.

* * *

"Hey, what's the deal, Shadow?" Takada asked Ichijyo, using his nickname.

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to associate ourselves with those girls," Ichijyo warned his two companions.

Ryuki, curiously, asked, "Why?"

"Yeah, why?" Takada demanded.

Ichijyo cursed himself. He'd kept his secret of being the Vampangel from them for nearly a year and had not gotten the chance to tell them. Well, there was that incident when Takada was obsessed in proving he was a vampire (he was _half_ right anyway) but he'd given that up soon after. Right now, Ichijyo was trying to justify his distrust towards the 4 girls they'd just met.

"The blonde one with pig-tails," Ichijyo began, "Her aura was strange, as were her friends'."

"Their _auras_?" Takada questioned, quirking an eyebrow skeptically.

Ichijyo sighed and explained, "I'm an empath, remember? I can sense emotions, auras too, and I can sense that those three have abnormal auras."

"Good or bad?" Ryuki asked.

"Well, they are certainly not malevolent," Ichijyo answered.

"So, what's the problem?" Takada asked.

"Their auras just felt different to me. Not human but certainly not in-human."

Takada just rolled his eyes, "Okay, listen, you're an empath and I believe you, but I think it's better if we get to know these girls before jumping into any conclusions."

"I agree," Ryuki nodded, "I mean I know that you're concerned about us, Ichijyo-san, but I do believe you are being a little paranoid."

Ichijyo just hissed and turned away from them, "Fine, do what you want. I'm going to unpack."

"I think I'm going to take a look around town," Takada suggested before turning towards Ryuki, "What about you, kid?"

"Maybe a jog around town would be nice," Ryuki replied.

Ichijyo had left them, scowling, as he went to the room he'd chosen for himself. The rest of his things would be arriving shortly, as were Takada and Ryuki's things. He'd wait for them. He wasn't an outdoor person, really.

* * *

The 4 girls, meanwhile, were discussing about the 3 boys when Ami finally realized where she'd heard Ryuki and Ichijyo's surnames. She had to be sure, so she retrieved the Mercury Computer and began searching for their names.

"It's all here," Ami said as she pulled up the files on her computer. There were three sets of pictures depicting Ryuki, Ichijyo and Takada. Ami clicked on Ichijyo's file, "It says here that Ichijyo Desmond Amakusa is the CEO of Smart Brain Tokyo and heir to Smart Brain Corporation."

"A CEO!?" Minako cried in shock.

"The youngest too," Ami added.

"Um…what's Smart Brain?" Usagi asked in confusion, scratching her head.

Ami sighed, "Smart Brain is an international and well known technologies company. In fact, it's one of the most world leading companies that design and distribute new technology for the masses. I know because I often buy some of their products."

"What about Takada?" Makoto asked and Ami clicked on the file as well.

"Yoshiyuki Takada is old enough to be in high school but he also has a pretty high IQ and has been experimenting with plutonium as an alternative fuel source. However…" Ami continued hesitantly, "nearly all of his plutonium based inventions end up causing some sort of incident or malfunctions and explodes immediately after activation. One such incident actually caused him to be banned from his school Science Fair. He's still doing his research and is being funded by Smart Brain…"

"You mean he IS in High School?" asked Usagi. It wasn't like Ami to mispronounce something.

"Um...no," Ami read. "It says here that he was suspended for a year after one of his experiments exploded. It was quite the disaster,"

The other three girls sweatdropped at the announcement.

"And what about that cutie Ryuki?" Minako asked with a grin.

"Well, as for Ryuki, he's the heir to a martial arts school known as 'The Hasuma School of Fighting Arts'." This information made Makoto smile a bit. So he was a martial artist. That meant they had something in common. Relationships always needed to have common ground to get started on. "He's also the son of fashion mogul Emiko Narukawa Hasuma."

"HE'S WHAT!?" Minako and Usagi shouted.

"Are you telling me his mom is one of the most famous fashion designers on the planet?" Minako was able to say while recovering from her shock. "I've seen some of her designs in fashion magazines. Heck, I even bought some."

"Mamo-chan once took me to one of those fashion shows too. We even saw her," Usagi said, still a bit in shock.

"And this is _her_ son?" both girls cried out while looking at the picture.

"Correct," Ami nodded. She wasn't into fashion, but such information was surprising. "All three of them attend the Red Horse Private Institution, one of the biggest schools in the country. The tuition is also very expensive and only the lucky ones get a full scholarship. Ryuki and Ichijyo's families obviously paid for it while Takada was funded. I've always wanted to go there, but my family couldn't afford it."

"They're all so dreamy…and two of them are rich!" Minako giggled. "We should go talk to them more often."

"It's a good thing they're my neighbors," Makoto said happily.

"Yeah!" Minako laughed in agreement.

"But, what are they doing in Juuban?" Usagi asked. "Ami, do you know?"

"Well…" Ami was looking at a news report, "Well, it says here that there was an explosion that blew up half of a building at the school, an explosion caused by a faulty experiment that involved…plutonium." Ami blinked. Takada's handiwork, no doubt, "So, while they are repairing the building, students are temporarily being transferred to other schools."

"You think we might see them in school?" Makoto asked.

"Possibly," Ami nodded.

"I wish I went to your school," Minako groaned.

"We could make them feel welcomed," Usagi said to her friends.

* * *

Ryuki had gotten his jogging clothes together and was going through the streets at a moderate pace. As he was, he was looking at the buildings and such, exploring in his own way. He had to admit, the town seemed to be very nice and peaceful. It was times like this that made it a little hard to believe that the town was constantly attacked by various monsters and as rescued just as often by the Sailor Senshi. Ryuki remembered that he still had to get a picture of them for his mother.

Ryuki's jog continued on until he was running through the park. His mind was on what he would do now that he was living in the town and if he could help the Sailor Senshi against the youma. He had been too distracted to notice at first, but he finally noticed someone sitting at a table that was placed at the side of the path. He was just sitting there with his eyes staring into nowhere. He had short black hair and was wearing a blue coat with a white shirt underneath. He was also wearing a pair of blue slacks. He seemed a little older than Ryuki as well.

"Watch your step," the boy spoke as Ryuki came closer. "You just might find a surprise."

Ryuki slowed his pace a little when he heard what the boy had to say. It was something rather odd for anyone to say. What surprise? Watch his step? The path was clear ahead as far as he could see. Ryuki had taken a couple of steps forward before a wet squish was heard coming from underneath his foot. Ryuki stopped in his tracks and slowly looked to his shoe. He found himself looking at a wad of dirty gum stuck to the bottom of it.

"Told you so," the boy calmly commented from his seat.

"Uh...thanks...I guess," Ryuki spoke as he looked at the wad of gum. It almost made him want to gag. "Uh...is there anywhere where I can wash my shoe off?"

The boy calmly pointed behind him and Ryuki saw a public restroom.

"Thanks," Ryuki nodded before he headed towards the restroom.

The boy just watched Ryuki go. After a moment he took out a coin and flipped it into the air. He watched it come down before he grabbed it and held it in his palm. It was heads up.

"Things will become quite interesting," he spoke before pulling out a blue deck case which had the symbol of Pisces on the front. "Quite interesting."

A short while later, Ryuki came out of the restroom while slipping his shoe back on. When he finally got it back on and stood up straight, he saw that the boy was gone, along with his table. The Knight of the Dragon was now slightly confused.

"How long was I in there?" he asked himself.

* * *

Ichijyo sighed as he read one of his novels in the apartment he shared with Takada and Ryuki. His two roommates were out on the town and he had been waiting for the movers to get their things to the apartment. That had been over a half-hour ago. The movers had come practically after Takada and Ryuki left the room. The movers definitely knew what they were doing since the furniture and other belongings had been placed and it soon looked like Ichijyo, Takada, and Ryuki had been living there for some time already. All that was missing was the two boys themselves.

"Those two had better be keeping out of trouble," Ichijyo sighed as he turned the page to his book.

A sharp knocking caught his attention while he was reading. Heaving an annoyed sigh, Ichijyo stood up and walked to the door. After brief moment of considering whether or not he really wanted to answer, he succumbed to his British upbringing and opened the door to his guest.

"Hello!" came a unified cry.

Ichijyo found himself looking at the smiling faces of Usagi, Minako, Makoto, and Ami. The Snake Knight felt a slight twitch in his eyebrow, but he knew that he had no real excuse to be rude. Their auras still bothered him, especially his vampire side, but it was survivable. Perhaps their ancestors were demon hunters or something. It would explain a lot for their auras. Many demon hunters reached something beyond human when they fought against demons and other monsters which hid in the dark.

"Tsukino-san, Kino-san, Mizuno-san, Aino-san," Ichijyo greeted politely. "How may I help you?"

"We just thought that we'd give you a proper welcome to Juuban," Usagi smiled brightly.

"Did you now?" asked Ichijyo. He had to give these girls points for enthusiasm.

"Yep!" Minako nodded. "Can we come in?"

Ichijyo heaved a tired sigh, "Sure."

The girls all entered the apartment and began making their own observations on how everything was placed. Makoto was the last one in and she had a plate filled with brownies. She had a bright smile on her face as she held them out to Ichijyo.

"I made them myself," she smiled. "I really hope you like them."

"Uh...sure," Ichijyo nodded as he took the plate. '_Ryuki must NEVER get his hands on these!_'

Makoto gave a cute smile before she went to the living room with the others. Resigning himself to his fate for now, Ichijyo went to make some tea. As much as he wanted to get them the hell out of the apartment, he knew that he couldn't be rude. Sure, their aura creeped him out like nothing else, but it wasn't evil so he had no real reason to act on it. Add in the fact that they were all ladies and he pretty much had his arms tied. It was times like this that he wished he hadn't adapted to being a gentleman so well.

* * *

Takada was exploring the town in his own way. He had been checking out the good places to go. To him, good places were mostly places where he could meet lots of cute girls. One of the places where he thought he had the best chances was at a place called the Crown Arcade. Inside was more or less like any arcade, but he had to admit that the place was really good. There was an area set for people to eat while there were other spots for playing games.

Takada's mind instantly went into his 'girl hunting' mode. There were plenty of cute girls around. A lot of them seemed a little younger than him. He noticed this one girl with short purple hair which definitely had the potential to become a real hottie. Sadly, that wasn't now. Takada was girl crazy, but he definitely wasn't a cradle-snatcher. However, the hot blonde tomboy and her equally hot friend with the aquamarine hair were well within his preference for age of women.

He quickly began his move as he walked towards the bar where the three girls were sitting. He took a seat one stool away from the aquamarine girl. He didn't want to be too close to stifle her and he didn't want to be too far away to be off her radar. He just wanted to be in her sights, but not seen as dangerous. It was hard earned knowledge that if you tried too hard to get a girl then she could bring hell down on your head. Like angry boyfriends or legal action. Being too far would cause her to ignore you and brush you off. But the magic number was right in the middle where she would consider you and possibly take interest but still feel safe with the distance between them.

Step two was trying to find a way into their conversation. Sure, he could try a pickup line but there was a time and place for everything. The aquamarine girl and her friend seemed to be in high school and probably had been dealt a number of sleazy pickup lines already. Takada had to take this slow and maturely. Otherwise he wouldn't get a date with either of the two. He wouldn't try both at the same time though. As much fun as that had been last time, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty about it and when they had found out; he felt a lot of pain. Thankfully he had the power of immortality on his side.

* * *

After speaking with the girls as tolerably as he could, the door of the apartment opened. Ichijyo let out a breath of relief to see Ryuki coming back into the apartment while taking off his jogging shoes and slipping on the house slippers. As he came in, he noticed the girls in the living room.

"Oh, I didn't know we had guests," Ryuki spoke up as the girls turned to smile at him.

'_More like pests!_' Ichijyo hissed in his mind. He was trying to remain polite but these girls' auras were driving his insides crazy! Also, they were too bubbly for his taste. He'd had enough of that from his own mother and sister! He remembered how affectionate his mother could be and was reminded of his sore ribs from her hugs. Yes, he loved the woman, but she still had to learn there was such a thing as personal space.

"Welcome to our home, Kino-san, Aino-san, Tsukino-san and Mizuno-san," Ryuki bowed. "Forgive me if I'm a little sweaty. I was just out taking a jog. Let me get cleaned up first, alright?"

"OK!" Minako said cheerfully, "And please call me Minako."

"Just call me Makoto."

"Ami would be fine."

"All my friends call me Usagi!"

Ryuki, nodded, and went to get a change of clothing before going to the bathroom to take a shower. Ichijyo, alarmed, however was thinking, '_Don't leave me alone!_' He then remembered the plate of brownies Makoto had brought along. Somehow, he would have to hide them before Ryuki got to them, or else…Ichijyo shuddered at the thought. Luckily they had tranquilizers for such an occasion, but he hoped that they wouldn't have to come to that if they could avoid it. Throwing the brownies away was an option, but that would be rude. So, he concluded that he could just give them to Takada. The mutt couldn't resist tasty treats from cute girls.

The girls had been asking Ichijyo numerous questions about himself in an effort to get to know him. Yes, he could be cold if he wanted to, but one of the lessons his father had taught him was to put on a polite front in public. It made for good PR when managing a company like Smart Brain and as CEO of Smart Brain Tokyo, Ichijyo had put on a 'mask' several times…just like now.

Where was a Mirror Monster attack when you needed one?

* * *

Takada massaged his reddening cheek where a red bruise was forming. He had attempted to flirt with the aquamarine haired girl but the blonde-tomboy decked him in the face. He then got the message that the two girls were lesbians and a couple. To be honest though, how was he supposed to know that before it was too late? It wasn't like they were terribly obvious about it. He walked out of the place with as much of his dignity still intact before he began to walk around town some more for someplace else with cute girls but cooler tempers.

He then looked up to see someone blocking his path. He had black hair, a white shirt, blue coat and matching blue slacks. It wasn't the appearance of the person that had shocked him, but what he was holding in his hand…a rectangular blue case with a gold symbol of Pisces…Takada knew immediately who was in front of him. It was another Zodiac Knight! What was surprising was that this guy just took out his deck, telling Takada, who was also a Zodiac Knight, who he was.

This was a challenge!

Walking slowly towards the boy, Takada withdrew his own Zodiac Deck, ready to do battle at the slightest provocation. As he stepped closer, he noticed that his opponent's eyes were glowing. It unnerved Takada slightly. If movies and his mutations were anything to go by, glowing eyes were always a bad thing.

"Right on time," the boy spoke up. "I had foreseen your arrival. I am glad of it."

"Huh?" Takada blinked. "What do you mean?"

"In one minute, two lovers will exit the arcade with their adopted daughter," the boy continued to explain. "I believe it was the blonde who gave you that punch to the face and the aquamarine girl. The purple-haired girl will accompany them."

Takada flinched at the memory. It wasn't like he knew what was going on between them. He would have apologized if the blonde wasn't too busy trying to pound him into hamburger for hitting on her girlfriend.

"They will walk across the road when they exit so to get to their car," the boy spoke. "When they get to the sidewalk a Mirror Monster will attack them. I would appreciate the help in defeating it."

"Yeah right," Takada grumbled. "I can recognize a challenge when I see it. Why else would you have your deck out in the open?"

"My Zodiac Power is foresight," the boy explained. "It allows me to see into the future."

Takada bit his lip. He couldn't really argue with that. If the guy was telling the truth then he was actually here to prevent three innocent people from becoming Mirror Monster chow. Takada knew that this may be a trick just to earn his trust and lure him into the Mirror World, but he wasn't about to risk lives on that. Resigning himself, he waited for the events that were foretold.

He internally cursed as he recognized the trio of girls exiting the arcade. So far, the boy was proving to be right. They didn't even try to walk down the street but instead went across the road. Takada felt his gut clench when he saw this. The boy was proving to be correct so far.

"How long until this Mirror Monster attacks?" Takada asked worriedly.

"It will appear when they get to the other side," the boy replied, getting tense. "I don't recognize it either so that is why I wanted your help. Hopefully you will."

Takada felt his adrenaline beginning to pump as the trio came closer to the opposite side of the road. His grip tightened around his deck as he waited for the undeniable sound of a Mirror Monster crossing the divide between the two worlds. His eyes followed the three females walking across the road and he held his breath as they managed to get to the sidewalk.

Takada instantly flinched as the ringing sound invaded his ears. He turned to the other boy and saw that he was rubbing his ears as well. Acting quickly, they both held their deck cases to the glass window behind them. Their belts faded into existence around their waists. As they did this, a window on the opposite side of the street started to quiver like water. The three young women had no idea what was happening as they continued to walk. Takada and the boy started dashing towards them in hopes of keeping the creature away from the trio.

"Zodiac Force! Dog!"

"Zodiac Force! Pisces!"

Both Knights snapped their decks onto the sides of their belts. The crystals in the buckles lit up before the two boys were enveloped in light. When it dimmed, the two boys were donned in their Zodiac Knight armor. Pluto's was the same as ever, but the other boy's was different.

His armor was blue and white with fins sticking out of the shoulder guards and boots. His Zodiac symbol was inside a golden circle planted in the middle of his chestplate. There were gold extensions sticking out of the four corners of it. His helmet had fins flanking it and a fin at the top. There was also a Y-shaped visor which he could see through. He was also wearing an armguard that was shaped like a hammerhead shark. The armor was worn over a black bodysuit. This was Zodiac Knight Jawz.

While the transformation was happening, the Mirror Monster had decided to make its appearance. It was mostly black with gray bits of armor on its chest, arms, and legs. It had long black cords coming out of its back that looked a lot like hair. Its face was covered by a metal mask with three holes on it that was similar to a hockey mask. It also had two insect-like wings attached to its back.

Haruka, Michiru, and Hotaru found themselves caught by surprise by the sudden appearance of the Mirror Monster. Haruka made a silent growl as she positioned herself in front of her lover and daughter. It wasn't enough that some punk tried to make a move on Michiru, but now another Mirror Monster had to try and make a meal out of one or all three of them.

"Damn," she hissed. "We can't transform out here!"

"Then we'll have to lure it to someplace that we can." Michiru reasoned. There was a dark look in her eyes that Haruka recalled she only had when someone she cared about was in danger or they were facing a real evil piece of work. No doubt she was just itching to bring justice down on the Mirror Monsters for the lives they'd taken.

Suddenly, the trio heard a loud screech that came from above. Looking up, Haruka, Michiru and Hotaru's eyes all widened as they saw a large bat coming down with its wings spread. It then glided down and barely missed them before it smashed into the black Mirror Monster, sending it reeling.

"Another one!?" Haruka shouted as she watched the bat circle the air before gliding down again. It flapped its wings before coming down and then two armored figures stepped into view.

The three Senshi recognized Pluto from their first encounter, except he was without his cape. The blue and white was new to them, however.

"Need help, ladies?" Pluto said as he drew his sword. The bat flapped its wings and perched itself onto the Knights' shoulders before morphing into a cape. The girls gasped. They had no idea that Pluto had a Mirror Monster on him the whole time.

The Mirror Monster got back to its feet and chirped angrily like a cricket before reaching to its back. It pulled its wings off, revealing them to be swords. It then charged at the duo of Knight. It swung down its blades but Pluto blocked them with his own sword before giving it a hard kick in the midsection. Pluto turned his attention to the blue and white Knight.

"Aren't you going to help?" Pluto asked as the Mirror Monster got back to its feet to charge again. The two fought with their swords like equals as sparks began to fly. Pluto ducked under a swipe for his head and then gave the Mirror Monster a vicious uppercut.

The blue and white Knight just flipped a coin before catching it in his palm. His visor glowed for a second and he nodded. "I foresee," he began, "that you will achieve victory on your own."

Pluto groaned before he sheathed his sword and took a card out of his deck. He then slipped it into the hilt of his weapon.

"_Sword Vent: Wing Lancer_!"

As if by some unknown force, a long black lance fell from the sky and landed in Pluto's hands.

"_Copy Vent!_"

Pluto whirled around to his fellow Knight and his eyes widened at what he saw. Grasped in the other Knight's hand was an exact copy of the Wing Lancer that Pluto often used himself. He gazed at the Knight with something akin to curiosity.

"I may have foreseen a victory for you yourself," he spoke. "However, that does not mean I will sit here and do nothing while you risk your life fighting this beast."

Pluto shrugged before he returned his attention to the Mirror Monster. He then started swinging and stabbing his newly acquired weapon at the Mirror Monster. He then stabbed the tip of his lance to the ground before jumping up and then swinging his leg to catch it in the face. His cape then spread out into a pair of black bat wings before he took flight. The Mirror Monster was then pierced by the lance and brought high up into the air. It struggled but then Pluto then swung down his weapon, causing the creature to fall hard onto the ground, creating a crater on impact. Jawz only watched calmly as he crossed his arms.

"Brutal," Jawz commented. "But I suppose it befits the situation."

Jawz twirled the Wing Lancer before lunging forward at the Mirror Monster. The Mirror Monster buzzed angrily as it tried to get its bearings back. Jawz wouldn't give it the opportunity as he began slashing away at it. The Mirror Monster couldn't even get its blades up before getting slashed repeatedly. The repetitive attacks forced the creature to drop its blades. Jawz stopped his attack as he saw the blades fall to the ground. Jawz acted quickly and kicked them away. He looked up to see Pluto still hovering in the sky by means of Darkwing.

"All yours," Jawz remarked as he took several steps back.

"Right, now to finish this!" Pluto announced before sliding a new card into his sword. "_Final Vent!_"

Michiru, Haruka and Hotaru could only watch as Pluto flew high into the air before stopping and then pointing the tip of his lance down. As he descended, his cape wrapped around him and began spinning like a drill.

"DEADLY IMMORTAL'S DRILL!"

The Mirror Monster looked up and then tried to make its escape, but Pluto was too quick for it. He came down in an instant, striking the Mirror Monster like divine heavenly justice before and explosion erupted. The girls shielded their eyes from the flash. They then opened their eyes to see Pluto with his cape blowing in the air and standing in a circle of flames. A bright energy orb rose up from the circle and as soon as that happened, the cape dislodged itself from Pluto and changed back into the bat, Darkwing. Darkwing then flew at the orb and swallowed it. Pluto looked to see the girls safe but Jawz had vanished. He shook his head and began to walk away.

"Wait!" came a cry. Pluto stopped in his tracks and turned. He found himself looking at the purple-haired girl and the two older girls. The two oldest were looking at him with either curious glances or cold observation, just daring him to try a funny move.

Darkwing screeched loudly before it connected back onto Pluto and became a cape again. Pluto then began to speak, "Can I help you?"

"Um," Hotaru gulped. She exhaled a breath for a moment before bowing deeply to him. "Thank you for saving us."

Pluto found himself caught off guard for a moment. It wasn't often that someone thanked a Zodiac Knight for saving them. Usually the people they saved ran off screaming because of the giant monsters that hung around them.

"Uh...you're welcome," Pluto nodded.

"But who was that other guy?" asked Michiru, wanting to know about the new Zodiac Knight.

"Dunno," Pluto shrugged. "Never met him before. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Pluto's cape morphed back into a pair of wings before he took off into the sky. None of the three Senshi in civilian form tried to follow him. They had enough information for now.

* * *

Takada grumbled to himself as he made it back to the apartment. His day had been getting steadily worse when he took the time to think about it. He met a bunch of cuties to begin but then when he tried to get to another one, her girlfriend tried to punch his lights out. Worse than that, there was another Zodiac Knight in town and he knew next to nothing about him. He just silently asked himself just what else was going to happen before he went to bed tonight.

"Tadaima," he sighed as he walked into the door.

He peered into the living room of the apartment and he saw four familiar cute girls that had shown him and his friends to the apartment in the first place. A small grin came to his face. His day was beginning to look up. The girls were seated around the table while Ichijyo was in his own seat. Ryuki was sitting on the arm of a couch where Ami, Minako, Makoto, and Usagi were sitting.

"Hello, Mutt," Ichijyo commented, feeling some amusement at seeing a bruise on his friends face. He could only hope that it came from what he thought it was. "What happened? Did a girl not like what she heard?"

"More like her girlfriend," Takada muttered under his breath. His good mood was beginning to take a nosedive. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Her _girlfriend_?" asked Ryuki. "Did I hear that right?"

"I SAID I don't want to talk about it," Takada huffed as he stalked his way to the kitchen.

"Oh, I get it," Ichijyo snickered. "You hit on a lesbian right in front of her girlfriend, didn't you?"

"Well, that was a nice secret I was hoping to keep," Takada groaned.

The girls were looking to each other in slight confusion. Ryuki was just as confused as the girls were at was happening. Minako was hoping for some juicy details and maybe try to weasel her way into tending Takada's wound.

"Oh, please tell me you got their names," Ichijyo snickered. "I'll send them a congratulations card for being so faithful and protective of each other."

"I think their names were Haruka and Michiru," Takada shrugged. He figured he might as well humor the snake.

"WHAT?!" the girls gaped. Some were louder than others.

"Oh, you know them?" asked Ryuki in genuine curiosity.

"Maybe," replied Ami. "Was one more feminine looking with shoulder length aquamarine hair while the other had short blonde hair and tomboyish looking?"

"Wow," Takada blinked. "That was them exactly. Anyway, I would have apologized if the blonde wasn't too busy trying to knock my block off."

"That's Haruka alright," Usagi giggled. "She's very protective of Michiru. I doubt you were the first guy who got that treatment from her."

"So I wasn't the first," Takada sighed. "I'm not sure if that's supposed to make me feel better or not."

* * *

Meanwhile, Haruka, Michiru and Hotaru were talking to Setsuna about their latest encounter with the Zodiac Knights.

"You mean another Zodiac Knight appeared with Pluto?" Setsuna asked.

"Yeah," Haruka nodded. "We didn't get a name, but it was obvious that Pluto didn't know him."

"Really?" asked Setsuna. "How?"

"Well, Pluto was just as surprised when this other Knight managed to copy his weapon," Michiru explained. "Pluto also admitted that he had never met this Knight before."

"I see," Setsuna nodded. "That might mean that several Zodiac Knights might be making an appearance soon."

"Great," Haruka sighed. She looked Setsuna squarely in the eye. "You mentioned that thirteen of the Zodiac Knights are good and thirteen of them are evil. What I want to know is which of the ones we know are evil?"

"I told you that the three from before were good, didn't I?" Setsuna asked, keeping her patience.

"Yeah, but you mentioned that they aren't part of your jurisdiction either, right?" Haruka pressed.

Setsuna leaned back into her chair as she tried to remain calm. The first three Zodiac Knights were enough of a shock, but the problem was increasing. Another Zodiac Knight had appeared along with another Mirror Monster. She was trying to figure out just what was going on. Zodiac magic was ancient and the closest to godlike that was around in this modern age and even it had extreme limits put on it to make sure the rules of the competition weren't broken. The magic the Sailor Senshi wielded was mighty, but the powers of the Zodiac was much stronger if used by someone like Libra, therefore the Knights wouldn't be able to sense the magic unless they were close. There was always the possibility of the Mirror Monsters searching for the magic, but that was a loose theory at best.

"Setsuna-mama?" asked Hotaru, catching the older woman's attention.

"Hm?" Setsuna blinked, coming back to the present. "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking for a moment."

"Okay," Haruka huffed impatiently. "And do you have an answer to my question?"

"Yes," Setsuna replied. She then heaved a breath, knowing that her extended family was not going to like the news. "I can see a few answers for your question Haruka. One is that Draco, Pluto, and Shadowcobra are on the good side as is this new Knight. Of course that is in a best case scenario."

"I sense there are darker ones," Michiru spoke up. Her words weren't a question.

"Yes," Setsuna nodded. "Those three could be evil and the fourth good or even the opposite. However, the worst case would be that all four are evil but working in different ways which makes them enemies to each other as well as us. I am convinced though that the first three are on our side."

"There is a bright side after all," Haruka snickered sourly. "Well, despite all that, that Knight Shadowcobra just rubs me the wrong way, you know?"

"Understandable, I suppose," Setsuna shrugged. "He didn't seem to quite fit the heroic stereotype, did he?"

"Setsuna-mama," Hotaru spoke up again. "Isn't there any way for us to find out if the new Knight is good or evil?"

"No," Setsuna replied. "I cannot follow any of the Knights with the Gates if Time because, like I said, they are beyond my jurisdiction. I was lucky to get the general information that I have and was even more fortunate to be allowed to tell it to you."

"So you can't tell us if we should beware of more Knights or not?" Michiru asked with a tone of disappointment.

"No," Setsuna replied simply. '_But I know who I can ask._'

* * *

Later that night, a dark figure appeared to leap out of the nearby window. Its silhouette was cast upon a wall by a lamppost and its most defining features were a pair of small points on the head that resembled cat ears. The dark figure purred as its red eyes scanned the area.

"He's here…" the figure snarled, in a feminine voice, "And there are others…powers to collect and to make mine."

To Be Continued...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: School, Saturn, and Snakes

The room was quiet for Takada as he humbly slept. His dreams were filled with pretty girls and lots of intimate physical activity. He was content with his dreams as he continued going through the motions with several attractive women with sizable physical attributes.

SPLASH!

"Ack! What the heck?!" Takada cried as his world became covered in water. He looked up to see the frowning face of his room mate Ichijyo looking down on him.

"Get up, Dog," Ichijyo spoke. "We're going to be late for school if we don't hurry."

"There are better things to wake me up with than water!" Takada snapped as he got out of his soggy futon.

"True, but it's the most amusing," Ichijyo smirked. He then turned and head out of the room to let his fellow Knight get dressed.

As the confrontation between roommates was occurring, the third member of the household was busy brushing his teeth. Ryuki had a bathroom near where he slept so he managed to get there first. There were actually two bathrooms, but Ichijyo had claimed the second one and neither Takada nor Ryuki wished to intrude on his privacy. He tended get scary when they did.

Today was the boys' first day of school at Juuban Junior High. Ryuki was excited about it. It meant that he could meet new people and make some new friends. Takada was happy because it meant that he could find a bunch of cute girls to hit on. Ichijyo just found the whole process annoying. Still, an education was an invaluable thing so he didn't complain about it. He was still unhappy about it though.

As Ryuki was finishing with his teeth, Takada walked into the bathroom looking upset. Ryuki just figured it was because of something that he and Ichijyo had been talking about. Anything they started talking about usually degraded into a fight.

"Ohayo, Takada-san," Ryuki smiled brightly.

"Kami-sama, save me from morning people," Takada grumbled. "Morning, Ryuki."

"What do you think this school is going to be?" Ryuki asked curiously as Takada began brushing his teeth too.

"Not sure," Takada shrugged. "Might be kinda easy though. So long as there's cute girls then I'll be happy."

"I think Usagi-san and her friends go there," Ryuki pondered. "It will be good to know someone there."

"Really?" Takada blinked. "Well, today's looking up already."

"Hai," Ryuki smiled, missing Takada's point. "It will be nice to see them again." He then left to allow Takada to take a shower.

The two boys finished their morning routines and met Ichiyo in the dining room. The Snake Knight had prepared breakfast for them. All three were donned in school uniforms and had their supplies collected with them. Ichijyo wore a black trenchcoat over his uniform while Takada wore his uniform completely unbuttoned to reveal him wearing a blue T-shirt underneath it. Ryuki had the top button of his uniform undone to reveal that he was wearing a red Chinese shirt underneath.

"Good to see you're both ready," Ichijyo nodded. "This is record time for you, Mutt."

"Bite me, Scaleface!" Takada growled.

"Even if I wanted to, I don't eat junk food," Ichijyo retorted before they all sat down. "Now, sit and eat. We don't have anymore time to waste." Takada reluctantly sat down but Ryuki was more eager as they all began to eat breakfast. It was silent and there was little conversation shared between them as they ate.

When they were done, Ryuki collected all the plates and put them into the sink before washing them. Ichijyo was already at the door, waiting. "Let's go," he said before walking out, followed closely behind by a fuming Takada and a smiling Ryuki.

All three boys walked out into the hallway before Ichijyo locked the door. They had taken a vote the previous night to see who would hold the master key and Ichijyo was elected since he was the one responsible enough to not lose them.

"Good morning!" a new cheery voice greeted from the next door over. The three boys turned and saw their neighbor, Makoto Kino, smiling back at them as she was exiting her apartment.

"Good morning, Makoto-san," Ryuki smiled.

"Morning," Ichijyo nodded.

"Ah, Mako-chan! Good morning!" Takada smiled brightly. It was like his earlier surly attitude didn't even exist. Ichijyo rolled his eyes at his comrade's change of attitude.

"Are you guys heading out to school?" Makoto asked as she stepped closer to the boys. She was secretly hoping that they really were going to Juuban Junior High. It was one of the larger schools, even if a number of the upper class schools would probably fight over who would take them.

"Hai," Ryuki nodded. "We're going to the local junior high. Do you go there too?"

"Oh yes!" Makoto nodded happily. Score three hot guys! They were going to her school and she could go with them every morning. Could this get any better?

"Well, lead the way, Mako-chan!" Takada said, smiling brightly. Ichijyo rolled his eyes and then walked up ahead, brushing past Makoto coldly. She blinked.

"What's wrong with him?" Makoto asked.

Takada answered, "Oh, him? He's not much of a morning person. I bet he's just grouchy. Typical Goth behavior."

"I heard that!" Ichijyo snapped as he turned around to glare at Takada, who gulped. Ichijyo then fixed his glasses and continued on his way.

"Minna, ikuzo!" Ryuki said as he ran after Ichijyo. That left Takada and Makoto to walk together, alone.

* * *

Ichijyo looked up at the building with some disdain. It wasn't as big as the Red Horse Institute but for now it would suffice. Besides, it was only temporary. Ryuki still had not caught up with him since he'd stopped to help get a cat out of a tree for an old lady. Honestly, the boy was just too nice for his own good. Takada was probably bragging and trying to flirt with Makoto so that was why he wasn't here yet either. At least it was peaceful…

"Hey, Ichijyo!" a bubbly female voice called, causing him to cringe.

Scratch that. The peace was broken. He turned his head towards the direction to see Usagi running towards him. She appeared to be in a hurry as he could see a piece of toast still hanging in her mouth. She was chewing and trying to swallow as she ran. He was briefly reminded of Ryuki for some reason but then shook his head. He took in a deep breath of air and greeted her too, "Good morning to you too, Usagi-san." She stopped in front of him and panted. She then smiled brightly. Was she just as much as a morning person as Ryuki? He could tell there were some subtle resemblances in their personalities.

"So, you go here too, huh?" Usagi said and looked him over. "Hey, cool coat!"

"Thank you," Ichijyo replied, politely, but wanting to get to his first class quickly. "It's what I wore back in my old school."

"Well, I hope you enjoy this school too, Mr. CEO!" she said. He frowned.

"How did you find out about that?" he asked. He could scan her mind, but that was only if he could tell that she was lying. Besides, he didn't want to risk seeing what was in her mind. It might make him gag.

"Oh, Ami Googled you guys," Usagi answered, missing his tone. "You are some really cool guys, you know?"

"Thank you…I guess. But, please don't tell anyone. We are just normal students here like all you are," Ichijyo said before thinking. '_OK, that's a lie but the truth may just scare her._' Usagi looked over his shoulder and smiled.

"Makoto! Takada! Ryuki!" she greeted.

Ryuki ran towards them and said, "Please, call me Leo. It's what all my friends do." He added in his mind, '_Until they become really close, of course, like family._'

"Right, Leo, gotcha!" she beamed.

Makoto laughed at another joke Takada told and Ichijyo rolled his eyes. "Can we get a move on, this century please?" Turning towards the gate, he then stomped in, not waiting for the others.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said he wasn't a morning person," Makoto blinked.

"Told you so," Takada nodded.

* * *

"Good morning, class," the homeroom teacher spoke up as the class settled down for the morning. Usagi was already settling in for a snooze while Ami dutifully had her notebook out, ready to take notes.

"We have two new students joining us today," the teacher continued. "I expect all of you to welcome them warmly."

Usagi smiled sneakily at the expectant faces of the other students. Ami seemed to be looking forward to seeing the new students, but she knew who they most likely were.

The teacher moved to the classroom door and opened it for the students. Usagi and Ami both smiled as they saw Ryuki and Takada walk in. Ryuki was looking at the students with his regular cheerful attitude while Takada noticed both Ami and Usagi and smiled charmingly.

Of course, several other girls in class immediately sighed dreamily as they saw both boys enter the room. Giggling was noticeable while the boys were holding in judgments until they got to know the guys.

"Konnichawa," Ryuki smiled. "My name is Ryuki Leonard Hasuma. Just call me by Leo. I hope we can be good friends."

"Yo! Name's Yoshiyuki Takada," Takada smiled. "It's a pleasure to be here."

The girls began to giggle even more as they started whispering to each other. One such girl was Usagi's best friend Naru as she leaned over to the blonde.

"Oh my god, Usagi!" she giggled. "They're so good-looking!"

"I know," Usagi smiled. "There's a third one coming here too. I wonder what class he's in?"

"There's another cute boy?" Naru gasped excitedly. "You met him didn't you? Oh that's not fair!"

"Oh, I'm just lucky," Usagi giggled.

* * *

"My name is Ichijyo Desmond Amakusa," the dark boy introduced to his new classmates. "I'm glad to be here."

Of course Ichijyo was lying through his teeth. He would prefer to be nowhere near this place and back in his apartment until his old school was fixed. Still, he couldn't afford to shirk his education so he had no choice. It wouldn't be as bad if there weren't so many giggling schoolgirls. Even worse, Makoto Kino was there and her strange aura was agitating his senses.

"Very good," the teacher nodded as she looked out to the class. "You can take the empty seat next to Kino-san."

"Very well," Ichijyo nodded. He then took his backpack and headed over to the empty seat.

"Looks like we're going to have class together now," Makoto smiled warmly.

"Apparently," Ichijyo sighed. He then calmly took out his notebook and started taking notes from the board.

Makoto took notice that all through class several notes were landing on Ichijyo's desk. He would calmly open them and glance at them for a moment before crumpling them up and hiding them in his coat pockets. Makoto had seen a few of them and she was surprised at how forward a few of them were. They raged from things like a phone number to asking if Ichijyo would scratch a certain 'itch'.

From the rate the notes were coming, it looked like Ichijyo was going to break a lot of hearts.

* * *

Lunchtime rolled around and Ichijyo placed himself in the shade of a tree before he began to eat lunch. He didn't have to wait long before his friends joined him.

"So how's everyone's first day?" asked Takada with a grin. "It's been a good day for me!"

"And how many girls did you attempt to seduce this time?" Ichijyo sighed.

"Hey! I'll have you know that they all came to me!" Takada snapped. He then pulled out several small papers with names and phone numbers on them. "I didn't have to ask for numbers!"

"They were very friendly to Takada-san," Ryuki nodded. "Some of the girls gave me their numbers too. I didn't even have to ask for them either."

"Hmm," Ichijyo sighed as he emptied his coat pockets from the morning classes. There were enough to double what Takada and Ryuki had, combined.

"I don't believe this!" Takada cried. "How the hell do you do this?! I mean, you act like a total jerk and girls go after you!"

"It's the forbidden fruit concept," Ichijyo snickered. "Even if I make myself seem unavailable, it makes several girls more determined to get me."

"Okay, now that makes sense," Takada grumbled. "The girls want what they can't have."

"What about you, Ryuki?" asked Ichijyo.

"Everyone is very nice here," Ryuki answered. "The girls were friendly until gym class. After I managed to play some basketball, the other boys were starting to like me too."

"He scored three baskets from mid-court," Takada chuckled. "The teacher practically begged him to join the basketball team."

Ryuki frowned as he took a bite out of his lunch. He complained, "Too cold," before he held a hand over his bento and released a small amount of heat. He took his hand away and took another bite before smiling, "Um, just right."

Ichijyo gave him a disapproving look and decided to give them a serious talk, "Alright, you two, remember that we cannot attract any unwanted attention to ourselves."

"Hey, I'm already enjoying the attention," Takada grinned, missing Ichijyo's point. Ichijyo hissed.

"No, Mongrel," Ichijyo said, eyes narrowed in annoyance, "What I mean is that we can't let ourselves be seen using our powers. So, I suggest you two be careful."

"You want only _us_ to be careful?" Takada asked. "What makes you think you're so careful, Fangface?" Takada rebuked. Ryuki sighed. Here we go again.

Ichijyo ignored the insult. "Me? I'm always careful. Plus, if I get caught I can just use my telepathy to erase their memories. You two on the other hand don't have such luxuries." Ichijyo smirked condescendingly.

Takada growled and then Ryuki spoke up, "Takada-san, Ichijyo-san is right. We cannot allow ourselves to get caught."

Takada listened to reason and calmed down. "Fine…So, what are you going to do with all these phone numbers the girls gave you? Or, can I have them?"

Ichijyo said, "I'd have to tell them I wasn't interested in pursuing any sort of relationship. Of course, that would just make them want to try harder."

"Ah, to be popular," Takada said, smiling.

"I thought we'd escape this sort of trouble when we came here," Ichijyo frowned. "I thought wrong."

Ryuki then said, "Could be worse. We could be the most hated people here."

Takada and Ichijyo nodded in agreement. It was better than being hated by the whole school.

* * *

"Takada and Leo sure seem popular," Usagi spoke up as she plowed through her lunch with zeal. "They were getting all sorts of notes all through the class."

"I have to agree," Ami nodded. "I didn't think anyone could become popular on their first day."

"Ichijyo sure managed it," Makoto smiled. "All the girls were throwing notes to him like there was no tomorrow."

"The gym teacher looked like he witnessed a miracle when Leo made those shots from the middle of the court."

"It was quite amazing," Ami agreed. "I've only heard of professional level athletes making shots like that."

"You mean not only is Leo gorgeous and rich, but he's athletic too?" Makoto gaped. "Wow. I hope they're single."

"Better act fast, Mako-chan," Usagi giggled. "Minako looked ready to leap for them when we last saw them."

"This can't be done carelessly," Makoto retorted, "These boys are mature and sophisticated members of society. I can't act like a schoolgirl. I'll have to act like a woman if I want their attention."

"You really think so?" wondered Usagi. "I don't think Takada or Leo would mind either way."

"Well, it's better to be safe rather than sorry," Makoto shrugged.

* * *

The day of school went on at a fast and steady pace. Ichijyo had broken a few hearts but a number of the girls were not going to give up. Ryuki let them down easily. Takada, however, well…

"Now, who to call first," Takada said as he scanned through the numbers. Ichijyo rolled his eyes as the three of them walked out the school.

"You are insatiable, you know that?" Ichijyo said.

"Hey, I got a busy social life," Takada retorted. "Besides, I'm not the one who just gained his own fan club."

Ichijyo grimaced. It seemed that even being a cold insensitive jerk he still was being harassed by women.

"The gym teacher asked me if I could try out for some of the sports teams," Ryuki said as he smiled.

"Well, you do have athletic talent," Ichijyo said. He then said, "You know, today has been unusually peaceful. Usually we'd get at least a monster to fight with in school."

"At our old school, maybe," Takada said. "But, hey, new place."

"In any case, we should check back home," Ichijyo said seriously.

"Hey, guys!" Makoto called and Ichijyo groaned. He looked over his shoulder to see that Usagi and Ami were with her.

"Yes?" Ichijyo said.

"Wanna hang out?" Usagi invited. "Like at the arcade?"

"An arcade?" Takada's eyes brightened. He loved videogames. "Sure!"

"Can I come too?" Ryuki asked.

"Of course, you're invited too," Usagi beamed. "Ichijyo?"

Ichijyo sighed. Maybe he could decline but then these girls would not give up. He reluctantly said, "Fine…"

"Good, we'll be meeting Rei and Minako there too," Usagi said.

"Who's Rei? Another friend?" Takada asked, grinning. He began to wonder if she was hot too.

"Yeah!" Usagi nodded. "She's a little high-strung now and then, but she's okay. She's also a priestess up at the local temple."

"Priestess?" the boys blinked. Each of them instantly were feeling reactions.

Ichijyo instantly began regretting his decision. Generally, he and mikos didn't get along that well. The really talented ones were capable of sensing his energies, usually classing him as a demon or something. Not technically wrong about his species, but definitely wrong about his intentions.

'_This sounds bad,_' Yaminekoryu groaned inside of Ryuki's mind. Yaminekoryu was a very powerful demonic entity and even being sealed inside of a human didn't always keep his aura fully suppressed. Some monks and mikos were capable of sensing him and the especially powerful temples would make Ryuki queasy if he stayed on the grounds too long.

Takada was just thanking the gods for giving him this opportunity. The miko attire was definitely something sexy. Especially when you shortened the skirt or loosened the top just a little…

"That's right," Ami nodded. "She wasn't with us when we met you all at Makoto's apartment building."

"Minako will also be glad to see you guys again!" Usagi beamed. "So let's go!"

Usagi led the way towards the arcade with Takada following happily. Ichijyo and Ryuki were both holding back reluctantly. This was going to turn out very bad if they didn't watch themselves.

Usagi's path planted in front of the Crown Arcade in which Takada instantly recognized. He silently begged the gods that the two girls he had met last time weren't there. He didn't need another assault on his person.

"Hi, everyone!" Usagi smiled as she entered the arcade with the boys in tow.

Ryuki, Takada, and Ichijyo looked to where Usagi was waving and found themselves looking at the corner table where two more girls were waiting. One was the familiar blonde Minako, but the other was a girl donned in a different school uniform and had long raven hair which fell freely down her back.

"Hi, Usagi," Minako smiled. Her gaze then turned to the boys and her face suddenly got some added sparkle to it. "And hello, boys!"

"Hello, Minako-san," Ryuki smiled.

"Ahh, this must be Rei-chan!" Takada smiled as he seemed to almost teleport in front of the dark-haired girl. "How do you do? My name is Yoshiyuka Takada. It's nice to meet you."

"Uh," Rei blinked, but the small flush on her face was unmistakable. "It's…nice to meet you too."

Ichijyo sighed as he stepped forward towards Takada. He remained silent before he smacked him upside the head.

"Ow!" Takada cried before turning to Ichijyo. "What was that for?!"

"Rein in your hormones," Ichiyo frowned.

"I was!" Takada snapped back. "I was just being friendly."

"Oh, please," Ichijyo snorted. "You go crazy every time you see a pretty girl. Someone has to keep a leash on you, Mutt."

"At least I can appreciate the opposite gender, Scaleface!" Takada growled back.

"Um…are they always like this?" Ami asked Ryuki with some concern.

"Oh yes," the boy nodded. "It usually starts with a disagreement like this one. It then degenerates into name-calling."

"As we have just seen," Makoto blinked at the bickering duo.

"And then it will go into physical violence," Ryuki continued.

WHAM!!

The girls turned their gazes to Ichijyo and Takada only to find that they had a fist implanted in each other's faces. While they could tell it hurt, but the two boys didn't seem to care.

"And then they will use objects to help get their message across," Ryuki finished.

CRACK!

The girls' attention returned to the bickering boys only to see that Ichijyo had taken a serving tray and took it to the side of Takada's head.

"It ends here usually, but when they get really mad they can usually fight each other into unconsciousness," Ryuki finished, somehow still smiling. His face grew stern as he said, "Can you two not argue here? You're causing a scene here!" Ichijyo and Takada stopped. Ichijyo already had the spiky haired boy in a headlock and choking him while Takada flailed around. They then got back to their feet, letting go of one another and fixing their clothes. "Thank you," Ryuki smiled.

"I apologize," Ichijyo said.

"Yeah, me too," Takada said.

Rei was giving the trio of boys odd looks, especially both Ryuki and Ichijyo. Something was definitely off about those two. Their auras were strange.

Ichijyo's aura was what worried her. It was saturated with darkness and in her experiences as a Sailor Scout that was never good. Of course, something odd was about him too. As dark as his aura was, there were pockets of light which showed no sign of diminishing or eroding. If it was slightly different then she might have thought that Ichijyo was being swallowed by some kind of negative force. As it was, it seemed that he had balanced the darkness with his light.

The other boy's aura was even odder than anything. It was mostly human, but there was an underlying sense of some kind of demonic force. It was incredibly faint. She couldn't think of many reasons why he would have that. He may have been in contact with a demon or some kind of youma. They sometimes did leave a lingering impression on some people. It was strange though.

"Okay!" Usagi smiled. "Rei, these are Ichijyo, Ryuki, but he likes to be called Leo, and Takada."

"Um…hello," Rei nodded. Her mind was still trying to figure out the strange auras.

Ichijyo was feeling the questioning tendrils of miko energies. It was confirmed to him. This girl was the real deal when it came to a priestess role. As much as Ichijyo had control of his abilities, he sometimes still acted out of instinct. His senses were not enjoying the probing and he was on the verge of lashing back. He would have to get out of there fast.

"It's nice to meet you," Ichijyo nodded. "However, I'm in somewhat of a bind for time so I will have to be going. Goodbye."

The Goth didn't even wait for anyone to say anything. He had to get out of there quickly before his energies decided that they didn't like what Rei was trying to do.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Minako. She had been looking forward to hanging out with three hot guys.

"Ah, he's always moody like that," Takada shrugged. "So, we haven't really gotten the time to know each other have we. I mean, since you all took the time to greet us when we moved into our apartment."

Minako and Makoto were suddenly all smiles.

* * *

Ichijyo walked down the streets, calming himself from his encounter with the shrine maiden. It took a couple of minutes, but he was back in control. He would have to do some meditation exercises so he wouldn't have another near episode when he met up with Rei again. Knowing how often these girls tended to pop up, he would be meeting up with her again.

"What is it with odd auras around this town?" he sighed to himself.

Ichijyo walked for a little while longer before he began to hear something.

"Get the freak!"

"Nowhere to run now!"

Ichijyo suddenly froze. Those words cut through Ichijyo's calm face like a hot knife through butter. Those words put Ichijyo's mind back to the people who would torture him in his childhood. There was no way he would let this go.

He followed the teasing voices towards an alley. At the other end he saw a bunch of kids who seemed a year or three under him. They were circled around someone else and they looked like they were getting ready to beat her.

"Any last words, you little weirdo?" sneered the apparent leader.

"I have a few words," Ichijyo spoke up. The group of kids turned around to see who was interrupting their idea of fun. "And I say leave the child alone before I render you all comatose."

"Buzz off!" the leader frowned. "We're just giving the freak what she deserves!"

Ichijyo just continued to frown even deeper than before. He removed his hands from his pockets and flexed his hands, allowing his knuckles to crack. He then wordlessly began walking towards the small group of punks.

"Get him!" one of the boys cried.

With the mob mentality in full throttle, the group of punks charged at Ichijyo, intent on making him pay for stepping in on their fun.

Ichijyo didn't even seem intimidated. He quickly went into a whirlwind of moves that was signature of his fighting style. He used a roundhouse to bash one of the punks in the side of the head, knocking him senseless. The punks were a little stunned, but Ichijyo pressed forward with precise punches to the chest. Each punk began clutching their faces or struggling to breathe.

"Now get out of my sight," Ichijyo hissed to the punks.

They obviously got the message since they were on their feet and heading out as fast as they could go. They were limping along, but they were going.

Satisfied that they were gone, Ichijyo turned back to see just who they were planning on beating up. Who he saw was a girl about the same age as the punks who looked a little on the frail side with dark hair which almost looked purple. She had a school uniform on as well. He didn't recognize which school it was for, but that really wasn't important at the moment.

"Are you alright?" Ichijyo asked with some concern. His expression was strangely gentle too.

"Um…yes," the girl nodded. "Thank you."

Ichijyo idly noticed that this girl had an aura that was eerily similar to Usagi and her friends. This one was different though. The small girl's aura seemed to be more concentrated, but radiated a sense of balance. A sense of a destructive aura balanced out by her very life force and innocence. Ichijyo had actually doubted that people like her actually existed.

"What's your name?" he asked her. It was the polite thing to do and also logical.

"Ho-Hotaru Tomoe," she answered, nervously. She had seen the way he fought and it frightened her a bit. But, he did save her.

"Very well, Tomoe-san," Ichijyo said and Hotaru relaxed. "My name is Ichijyo Desmond Amakusa." He looked over his shoulder to where the bullies had run off to. "Those…people were harassing you, were they not?"

Hotaru was silent but that was enough to answer her question. Ichijyo knew that she kept this from other people to not worry them. He decided not to pry any longer and asked, "Where do you live? Would you like me to escort you?"

The purple haired girl stared at him because of the generous offer and nodded. "Yes, thank you."

"Good," he smiled, which was uncharacteristically strange for him, "Please, lead the way."

As the two walked out of an alley, someone sitting at a table was watching them with an even gaze. He flipped a coin and looked at the side facing up as it landed on his palm. "The Princess of Saturn has met the Knight of Snakes. Things are following the right direction. The Knights of Dragons and Dogs have also encountered and met the other Princesses of the Inner Worlds."

* * *

Takada was having fun hanging out with a group of cute girls as he played a few games. Ryuki played a few too. Their favorite had been the motorbike racing game. Right now, they were playing another lap, both neck to neck on their bikes as the girls cheered on.

Well…almost all the girls. Rei was staring at them with a neutral gaze. Ryuki's aura bothered her a little and even after leaving, Ichijyo's aura gave her something to be concerned about. She needed to tell her friends. These boys could be hiding a dangerous secret.

She would have to tell them when Takada and Ryuki were gone.

* * *

"So this is your house," Ichijyo asked as he and Hotaru came up to the step of a rather nice looking abode.

"Yes," Hotaru nodded. "Me, Michiru-mama, Haruka-papa, and Setsuna-mama all live here."

"Is that so?" Ichijyo commented. "If it's not too forward of me, are you adopted?"

"Yes," Hotaru nodded. "They took me in after some…things happened to my papa. They've really made my life better thought and I've been very happy."

Ichijyo let out a small smile as he saw Hotaru's attitude lift up dramatically. The couple here must indeed be some special people. He then suddenly thought about the names he heard in conjunction with something that had happened with the Mutt.

"When you say Michiru and Haruka," Ichijyo began. "Is one by chance feminine looking with shoulder-length aquamarine hair while the other has short blonde hair and acts like a tomboy?"

"Oh, do you know them?" asked Hotaru.

"Not personally, no," Ichijyo began to snicker. "But a friend of mine met them yesterday I believe. He made a move on one of them and got a punch to the face for his trouble."

"Oh, I remember that!" Hotaru gasped. "He sure was surprised when Haruka-papa hit him. I think Michiru-mama was going to explain that she was taken but Haruka-papa is the jealous type sometimes."

Ichijyo just continued to chuckle, "Oh well. I did want to congratulate them on remaining so dedicated to each other. I'll have to send their regards back to him."

Hotaru couldn't help but giggle too. It was kind of funny when she thought about it. She knew she shouldn't laugh about it, but Ichijyo's laugh seemed to be somewhat infectious.

* * *

"So what is it you wanted to talk to us about, Rei?" asked Usagi with some confusion.

The boys had just left with their goodbyes to the girls. When Rei was sure they were gone, she had pulled the other four girls to the table to begin talking.

"It's the aura I was feeling from Ichijyo and Leo," she explained. "There's something wrong with them."

"What is it?" asked Minako with some concern. She hoped it didn't turn out that they were enemies pretending to be friends. She had enough of that.

"Well, Ichijyo's aura was just saturated with negativity," Rei explained. "It was a little disturbing to be honest."

"Does that make him an enemy then?" asked Makoto.

"That's the weird thing," Rei sighed. "He had pockets of light inside of him to balance the darkness. None of our past enemies had that before."

"And what about Leo?" asked Ami.

"Well, his was different," Rei sighed. "It was like there was a demonic aura being hidden inside of his human one. He's not a demon in disguise, but I'm sure he's connected to one somehow."

"So what should we do?" asked a worried Minako.

"Hmmm," Usagi pondered. She then stood up with her arm raised in the air. "I say we follow them and dig out the truth for ourselves!"

The table was silent as the other four girls sweatdropped at the proclamation. The sad thing was that none of them had a better idea.

* * *

Ichijyo entered the place and he had a faint feeling of déjà vu. The aura he'd been sensing from those other girls was present here too. Were they somehow connected? Then again, the other girls did say they knew Haruka and Michiru.

"Wait here," Hotaru said as he gestured towards the living room. "I'll go get them."

"Thank you," he nodded as he removed his shoes and slipped on the slippers before following her in. He sat down on a rather comfortable couch and his eyes scanned the place. Not as big as his old one but it looked cozy enough. Whoever lived here certainly had taste.

He didn't have to wait long before Hotaru returned with one of her adoptive parents in tow. She was an elegant woman who was wearing a simple dress and had aquamarine hair which rolled down to her shoulders. She seemed to walk with grace that was almost picturesque. The Snake Knight was able to see why had Takada tried to make a move on this young woman.

"Hello," she smiled in greeting. "My name is Michiru Kaioh. Hotaru tells me that you two met on her way home."

"Yes," Ichijyo nodded. "Some of the local punks thought she might make an easy target. I managed to convince them otherwise."

Michiru sent a worried gaze toward Hotaru, who almost flinched underneath the soft gaze. Ichijyo knew a flinch like that. Hotaru was feeling guilty about worrying those close to her. It was one that Ichijyo had used many times in the course of his childhood.

Michiru then turned back to Ichijyo, "Well, then I must thank you for your help. Hotaru has a weak constitution so she has trouble with more strenuous activity," he face then turned to a thoughtful look. "You know, I never really got your name."

"Of course, how rude of me," Ichijyo nodded with a faint smile. "My name is Ichijyo Desmond Amakusa."

Michiru nodded with a smile. She was about to offer her guest some tea when the front door opened to reveal another member of the household. She was definitely the definition of a tomboy. She wore men's clothes and her hair was in a boyish cut.

"And you must be Haruka," Ichijyo nodded.

"Huh?" the woman blinked. "You know me?"

"Not personally," Ichijyo shrugged. "But an acquaintance of mine got a punch to the face from you after he made a move on Michiru. It was yesterday I believe,"

"Oh," Haruka frowned. "That guy. Are you friends with that jerk or something?"

"Unfortunately. While I do respect his intelligence, I don't respect much else," Ichijyo shrugged. "Although, I must really applaud you for being so faithful to your lover. It's refreshing to see such things."

"And what made you think me and Haruka are lovers?" asked Michiru with a slight tease in her voice.

"Besides the fact that Haruka decked Takada?" Ichijyo snickered. "Well, let's say a little bunny and her friends told me and my roommates after Takada came in with a bruise on his face."

"You know Bun-head too, eh?" Haruka smiled. "Well, I guess we are connected after all."

"We ran into each other when we moved into our apartment," Ichijyo replied. "It's the same building as Makoto Kino. Another friend I believe?"

"That she is," Michiru nodded. "Could I interest you in some tea, Amakusa-san?"

"Unfortunately, no," Ichijyo sighed. "I still have things to do today and if Hotaru is alright, then I'll be on my way."

"Michiru nodded as Ichijyo got his shoes back on and quietly exited the house. Haruka watched him go with a shrug before closing the door behind him. She then turned to her family.

"He doesn't seem so bad," Haruka shrugged.

"Well, he saved Hotaru so he's gotten some points in my book," Michiru smiled. She then turned to her 'daughter'. "Although I'd prefer if you didn't make your friends like this."

"Okay!" Hotaru giggled.

* * *

Ichijyo placed his hands in his pockets as he was walking down the street. All in all, his day hadn't been incredibly terrible, but meeting more people with that strange aura was a point of concern. He would have to keep an eye out for them in the future.

That was when he heard it; the infernal ringing noise that served as the Zodiac Knights' call to battle. It echoed through his head as he brought his hands to his ears in attempts to stifle it. He quickly began looking around; trying to find the source so he could stop it. As he turned, he barely saw a metallic leg vanishing from sight in the front windows of a house. Ichijyo frowned as he began to follow it. It wasn't easy since he had to look in the reflections of windows and parked cars, but he could see it as clear as day. A Mirror Monster classified as the Des-Spider was on the hunt. Ichijyo watched as it began to crawl up the side of the house he had just been at. It seemed to have its gaze glued to one of the windows. That meant that it had already chosen its prey.

"The meal has been cancelled," Ichijyo frowned as he took out his Zodiac Deck. He quickly raced over to a nearby car that looked like it had a mirror finish. It would have to do. He held out his deck to the surface, allowing the belt to appear on his waist. He then put his hands into a seal motion.

"Zodiac Force! Snake!"

He snapped the deck onto his belt and allowed the change to overtake him. Soon, in a flash of purple light, Ichijyo Desmond Amakusa had transformed into Zodiac Knight Shadowcobra. With a deep breath, Shadowcobra dove into the surface of the car, and into the Mirror World.

* * *

Hotaru was humming happily to herself as she ran a brush through her hair. Her day had looked like the usual with the bullies coming to get her, but then Ichijyo had shown up and chased them all away. It was really nice of him and she was hoping to see him again sometime. She had too few friends as it was.

As she was checking her hair in the mirror, she began to notice something odd. On closer inspection, it looked like there was a thick strand of webbing around her neck. She held her hand to her neck and found nothing there, but it was as plain as day in the mirror. She checked closer and saw that the strand was coming from the window in her room.

"Huh?" she blinked as she slowly walked to the window, checking her mirror to make sure she was following the strand. As she drew closer to the window, she could begin to see her own reflection in it….but it looked like something else was there too.

Suddenly, the glass rippled before two large spider legs came through the glass and trapped Hotaru's ankle in their clutches.

"Ahhhhhhhh!!" the young girl screamed as the legs pulled and made her fall to the floor. The two legs then began pulling her towards the window. "Mama! Papa!"

The door to her room instantly slammed open to reveal Haruka with Michiru right behind her. Both the older women's eyes bulged wide as they saw what was happening.

"Hotaru!" Haruka cried as she dove forward to grab her 'daughter's' hand. Michiru was close behind as she took the other. Soon, the game of tug-o-war began with Hotaru being the prize and rope. The adoptive parents pulled with all their might, trying to get their little one away from the monster which was coming out of the glass in hopes of eating her.

All the while, Hotaru was terrified. This was one of a child's worst fears and it was happening to her. She didn't even have time to transform so that she could fight it! She could feel the pull from the monster suddenly get stronger and she instantly slipped from her adopted parents' hands.

"No!" was all she heard her 'mama' cry before Hotaru felt herself being pulled into a large tunnel. It looked like everything was reflective glass that sparkled brightly. All too soon, the trip ended, and Hotaru found herself yanked into the open air outside her house before she landed on the ground.

She panted weakly before she looked around. Everything looked the same, but she couldn't hear any of the neighbors. Even more, she could see that the paper her 'papa' had left out that morning was still there, but the writing was backwards.

"Where am I?" she whimpered to herself

A loud hiss caught her attention and she looked straight up. Her voice died in her throat and she would have screamed if she could. Up at the roof of her house was a very large metal spider which looked like it was ready to go after her.

Hotaru acted quickly and reached into her pocket and pulled out her Henshin Pen, "_Saturn Planet Power! Make-Up!_"

If something was supposed to happen, it didn't. Hotaru blinked as she didn't feel any of the magic of the Sailor Senshi enter her.

"Huh?" she blinked. What was going on? Why weren't her powers working?

The hiss of the giant spider caught her attention as it got closer. Hotaru knew she needed to run or else this thing was going to get her. The yard was large enough, but the spider was tearing through the ornaments placed in the backyard like they were made of tissue paper.

Hotaru was now incredibly scared. She just didn't know what to do. The spider was determined to get her and she knew that with her weak constitution, she wasn't going to be able to keep away long. What was she going to do?

Someone decided to answer as a purple and silver vehicle roared onto the property, slamming into the spider's legs and causing it to trip and fall onto the ground. The vehicle rolled to a stop in front of a shocked Hotaru and the top began to lift up. Inside was a man in a suit of purple armor which was designed after a cobra. He dismounted from his vehicle and approached her.

"Are you alright?" the man asked. Hotaru just weakly nodded. "Good. Excuse me while I play exterminator."

Shadowcobra stepped forward and faced the recovering spider. He reached to his belt and pulled out a card while gripping his scepter. He quickly slipped the card inside and slammed it down.

"_Sword Vent: Snake Coil Sabre!_" Shadowcobra held out his hand before the weapon designed after Genosnaker's tail appeared.

"Raaaaagh!" the Zodiac Knight cried as he charged forward. The large spider swiped at him with its legs, but the Knight of the Snake was agile enough to dodge. He leaped over the attack and landed directly on the spider's back allowing him to unleash several furious strikes which erupted in sparks and cries of pain from the metal arachnid.

The Des-Spider thrashed and went into a rollover which would have removed Shadowcobra if he wasn't so careful a fighter. The purple Knight leaped from his perch and landed on the ground while the Des-Spider was getting back on its feet.

"Might need some help on this one," Shadowcobra grunted as he reached to his belt. He gripped a new card and was preparing to slide it into his scepter.

The Des-Spider hissed loudly and started firing several needles from its mouth. They flew in a barrage aimed right at Shadowcobra, who was caught off guard by the attack. One of the barbs scraped the hand which was holding his card, forcing him to drop it.

"Damn!" Shadowcobra hissed before he dove to avoid more of the barrage.

As he was fighting, the card fluttered through the air and came to a stop near the vehicle in which Shadowcobra had entered the battle in the first place. Hotaru saw it land on the ground and feared that her hero might need it. So, she scrambled forward and picked it up, hoping to give it back to him should he need it.

Shadowcobra turned to look at the girl he had rescued and his eyes widened as he saw her. She was beginning to corrode from being in the Mirror World too long. He had to get her out of here, now!

Ignoring the monster, Shadowcobra dove for the girl and picked her up without any effort. He had to get her back home and he had to do it quickly. Checking for any kind of reflective surface, he spotted one. A window that was on the house was reflecting the sun quite easily. It would have to do. Making sure the girl was secure, Shadowcobra dashed for the window and dove through.

Hotaru could see the strange tunnel again before she and the man who rescued her landed on the porch of her house outside.

"Huh?" Hotaru blinked as she checked her surroundings.

"You should be safe for now," the man spoke. "I'm going back to fight that thing."

"Wait!" Hotaru cried out, but the man was already through the glass. Hotaru wanted to follow, but she didn't know how. Sighing, she began to walk inside when she began to hear sobs coming from upstairs. Acting fast, she went up the stairs and found her mama sobbing on the floor of her room with her papa trying to console her.

"Mama! Papa!" Hotaru cried happily.

"Hotaru?" Michiru gasped. Both she and Haruka turned to see their 'daughter' returned to them. "HOTARU!"

The frail girl found herself enveloped in a glomp that was above and beyond all other hugs that she had ever received. All the while, her 'parents' were saying how happy they were to see her alive and well.

While Hotaru did enjoy the hugs, she was a little concerned about what she had with her. It was one of the armored man's cards and she knew it didn't belong to her. It was a weird one though. It had the picture of a silver humanoid rhino on the front that looked like it was a walking tank with the strength to match. A name was written across the top.

Metalceros.

To Be Continued...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Making New Friends

Shadowcobra had re-entered the Mirror World to see that the Des-Spider had not left. It was too worked up from the fight to leave. Good. Smirking under his helmet, the Knight of Invisibility decided it was time to finish the monster off. Pulling a card out from his deck case, he drew out his staff and slid the card inside.

"_Final Vent!_"

The Des-Spider immediately took notice of the purple-clad Knight and with a hiss charged right at him. Shadowcobra predicted that this would happen. Behind him, Genosnaker had appeared. The Knight of Invisibility dashed towards the giant spider as his contract monster slithered behind.

"_GENOCIDE CRUSH!!_"

Taking a leap into the air, Shadowcobra flipped his body backwards before Genosnaker leaned backwards and then opened its mouth, spewing a torrent of acidic venom out of its mouth. The stream of poison propelled Shadowcobra forward who then began to swings his legs in a bicycle kick, slamming them into the Des-Spider repeatedly. Combined with the paralyzing and corrosive effects of Genosnaker's venom, the Des-Spider could not defend itself as one last kick propelled it backwards before it exploded in a flaming cloud.

Shadowcorbra landed with both feet on the ground and watched as the glowing orb of energy rose up. Genosnaker was quick to swallow it and licked its reptilian lips in satisfaction. The snake monster bowed its head down and Shadowcobra petted it, listening to it hiss in approval. As Shadowcobra turned to leave, he saw something.

Actually, it was someone.

It was a Knight clad in blue and white armor, bearing the symbol of Pisces on his chest. The helmet and visor hid his face but that was of no concern to Shadowcobra. Shadowcobra remembered him from Takada's description.

Another Knight meant another adversary and another step closer towards the prize. Ryuki and Takada didn't even need to know.

Shadowcobra got ready to fight but felt perplexed when the other Knight didn't even make a move. Instead, the other Knight began to speak.

"Your heart and fate will soon be intertwined with one of the princesses," the other Knight spoke.

Shadowcobra was confused. "Pardon?" The other Knight didn't elaborate and began walking away. "Wait!" Shadowcobra was about to give chase but then felt a tingling sensation. Looking at his armored hand, he hissed in agitation. "Out of time already? Damn!" He decided to just leave this matter for now and exit the Mirror World.

* * *

Back in her room, Hotaru was lying on her bed, on her stomach, gazing at the card she had in her hand. It belonged to that purple cobra Knight. She remembered that he called himself Shadowcobra. It was strange though. Why would he have a card with a rhino on it?

Hotaru sighed. She was unable to thank him properly and now had one of his cards in her hand. She had to find a way to return it. Maybe she could wait and a monster would attack. From what Setsuna had told her, these Zodiac Knights showed up when these Mirror Monsters appeared. Maybe she'd get her chance then.

She began to envision him being grateful and blushed. Was she developing a crush on the Snake Knight? If she did, should she tell anyone? Her papa and mama didn't seem to like the Snake Knight. Well, her papa most of all, but Setsuna told them he was one of the good ones.

Yawning, she placed the card onto her desk and then closed her eyes. She'd think about it tomorrow. Maybe she would talk about it with Rini too. She could always keep a secret if she thought it was important. She would definitely want to hear about what had happened to her.

As Hotaru slowly drifted off to sleep, she thought she could hear a very faint ringing in her ears. It was so soft she could ignore it and she did so. Of course, if she had opened her eyes she would have seem the real version of the monster depicted in the card in her vanity mirror. It didn't look like it wished to harm her and thus silently took vigil over the sleeping girl.

* * *

Takada awoke to the sweet smell of pancakes being cooked and he smiled. "Looks like the kid made pancakes. Great." The young genius was out of bed in a flash and throwing his clothes on so he could get to breakfast first. As he began walking towards the kitchen, he bumped into his red haired friend.

"Oh, sorry, Takada-san," Ryuki apologized. He still had trouble dropping the '-san' from his speech when referring to close friends. Though he did refer to them at times without it, most of the time he'd slip back into the habit to be polite.

"Say, aren't you cooking pancakes?" Takada asked. Ryuki shook his head. Takada just blinked as he started to reach a new conclusion. If Ryuki wasn't cooking, then that could only mean…

Takada darted into the kitchen to see the most unusual sight! There was Ichijyo, already in dressed, standing at the stove and cooking! He never cooked! Pancakes of all things!

Ichijyo took notice of Takada and said, "Breakfast will be ready shortly. Take a shower and get dressed."

Takada was struck speechless but still heard the sound of Ryuki running towards the bathroom to get cleaned up for the day. Ichijyo glanced and saw that the Dog Knight was still gaping in utter shock. As amusing as throwing the mutt off guard was, it was annoying to be stared at.

"What is the matter with you, mutt?" he sighed, hiding his amusement.

"You're cooking!" Takada cried, snapping out of his daze.

"Very observant," Ichijyo nodded. "That is what the action is generally called when someone prepares warm meals."

"But you never cook!" Takada cried a second time. "Not once since I've met you!"

"Doesn't mean I can't," Ichijyo shrugged. "Usually I have people do it for me. I'm feeling generous today so I decided to do something nice."

"You being nice," Takada sighed. He contained a small snicker in his voice. "I never thought I'd see the day. What's the occasion though? Meet a girl?"

Well, technically Takada was right. Hotaru was indeed a girl that he had met. A little young for him though. Still, he identified with the little girl. She was lonely because of something that she couldn't control and people were against her because of it, not unlike his darker heritage. Still, seeing her smile had brightened his day and knowing he might have helped alleviate some of her pain made him unusually happy.

"I just wanted to do something nice for people I consider friends," Ichijyo said. "Now, go take a shower and get dressed before these pancakes become cold."

"OK," Takada said. He suspected that maybe Ichijyo had been replaced by a nicer clone, but it didn't seem like it. It was like Ichijyo was genuinely being nice for once. This side of him was a rare treat altogether. With a shrug, Takada turned back to head to the bathroom. Ryuki would've been done by now and was already getting dressed for the day.

Of course, Ichijyo was hiding something. After he'd dealt with the Mirror Monster and exited the Mirror World, he felt something missing. He then proceeded to search through his deck to find that Metalceros contract card had gone missing. He was surprised but then remembered the girl, Hotaru, who he'd saved. He suspected that she may have the card so he decided to eventually confront her to get it back, but then remembered what she had to go through. Maybe Metalceros could help her. He had been fed well recently so he could handle himself for a while.

* * *

At Rei's temple, the 5 Inner Senshi were going over their plan. They had all come over early to do deal with an issue. They sat in a circle and in the centre were three A4 size pictures of the three boys that Ami managed to get off the internet.

"Alright, this is Operation: Make sure boys are not really evil villains trying to destroy us!" Usagi announced. Everyone looked at her in bemusement. "What?"

"That's not very imaginative, bun-head," Rei pointed out.

"Hey!"

"Should we be following them around?" Ami asked. She didn't want to, but Rei's suspicions scared her. What if Takada happened to be an enemy in disguise? As much as she disliked the idea of invading someone's privacy, this was something that had to be dealt with.

"Well, it'll give us a chance to get to know them better," Minako grinned. If the boys didn't turn out to be enemies, then this would be the perfect way to get some intel on them.

"So, who's gonna tail who?" Makoto asked.

"Alright," Usagi grinned. "Ami and Makoto will tail Takada, Rei will tail Leo, and me and Minako will tail Ichijyo."

"Why do I have to go on my own?" Rei asked.

"We drew straws, remember?" Usagi reminded. "So, is anyone in agreement? Good! Today is a day off so we will be able to follow them all day!"

"Yay!" Minako cheered.

* * *

Ryuki was stretching at the door. The breakfast, which main consisted of blackberry pancakes and cold milk, had been filling and now he was going to take a little jog around town. It was his usual morning ritual. Plus, maybe he'd be able to meet that fortuneteller guy again.

Takada and Ichijyo had similar plans. Takada was going to scope out the town for possible dating opportunities while Ichijyo was going to check out the local stores for anything goth related.

They all had a copy of the house keys so even if nobody was home, they could still get inside. Nothing to worry about.

* * *

As Ichijyo was walking through town, two people were following him. They were wearing trench coats, fedoras and sunglasses. Of course, the disguises did little to hide their long blonde hair.

"Come on," Usagi said. "We better stay on his tail."

"Hope he doesn't notice us," Minako said, concerned over their disguises.

"Relax, we're practically invisible," Usagi stated. "Now, let's go!"

* * *

Ami and Makoto watched as Takada entered the Crown Arcade. Maybe they could observe him much closely without arousing suspicion. Rei hadn't detected anything off putting about Takada, but his friends were still a concern so maybe he knew more than he was letting on.

* * *

Ryuki was jogging around town, working up a sweat as he exercised. He was too busy to even notice a raven-haired young lady was tailing him.

Rei had always possessed the ability to detect auras. Whether it was because she was a Senshi or something more inherent, she wasn't really sure. It did come in handy at times. Sure, the enemy could get around it but some of the time Rei could detect some inconsistencies within a person's aura.

The boys' auras, Ichijyo and Ryuki mostly, had felt weird to her. One had dark and light auras, while the other had a demonic aura inside of him. She needed to know if they were really enemies in disguise or not. If they were, then they had to take action.

A man with short black hair and black eyes watched the events in interest, a glow underneath his bangs. "How interesting…"

* * *

Meanwhile, Ichijyo had just entered a bookstore. He had seen something interesting in the store window and wanted to see if it was any good than the cover showed. Usagi and Minako were quick to enter after him…and had lost him due to all the bookcases, the rows and rows of bookcases.

"Great, we lost him," Minako groaned.

"He should be here somewhere," Usagi said, not quitting. "I mean, he couldn't have gotten far. Let's go."

Of course, the trench coat wearing girls were garnering a lot of attention, especially from the store owner. He was going to keep his eye on them. They could be shop-lifters.

* * *

Ami and Makoto entered the Crown Arcade. So far, from what they could see, Takada was just…playing.

He was at one of the machines, toggling the joystick and meshing the buttons while his eyes were locked on the screen. He had been there for half an hour and the amount of skill was probably great since he was gathering a crowd who was watching him as he attempted to rank up a high score at the game. From what they could see, it was a fighting game and Takada had not lost a single fight against the computer controller avatar. He had won every level with relative ease.

Of course, back at Smart Brain, the training simulators were a lot harder.

* * *

Rei had followed Ryuki to the park. He nearly spot her. Luckily, there was fortuneteller there so she quickly darted over to the fortuneteller, a rather handsome young man about Mamoru's age.

"What is it you seek?" the man asked, his haunting eyes staring at hers.

"The truth…I guess," Rei said uncertainly, blushing a little. This guy was sure handsome.

"Give me your hand," he requested and Rei did as told without question. He examined her palm with scrutinizing eyes. Of course, said eyes were glowing slightly but went unnoticed by Rei.

"You should look behind you for untold danger," he said to Rei in a warning tone. Rei blinked. What did that mean? Regardless, she paid him and was on her way. She needed to keep her eye on Ryuki without him catching on

Her target, Ryuki, stopped and jogged in place in front of the fortuneteller. The fortuneteller looked up at him, "Care to have your fortune told?" he asked.

"Okay…" Ryuki sat down, "By the way, thanks for the warning yesterday…even if it was a little late."

"It was my pleasure," the fortuneteller nodded.

"My name is Ryuki Hasuma, but my friends call me Leo," Ryuki introduced himself, holding out his hand.

"Tazuka Mizuki," Tazuka took Ryuki hand and they shook.

Rei sighed as she watched the exchange. Obviously, Ryuki hadn't shown any signs of demonic abilities. Of course, she would need to stay vigilant. There was something strange about him.

Of course, if she'd bothered to look, she would've noticed a monster staring at her hungrily. She was going to be its meal and she didn't even know it!

Ryuki cringed as the sound of ringing invaded his ear. He followed it and ran towards the direction. Tazuka was hot on his heels and in the fortuneteller's grasp was…a Zodiac Deck! "Can't be…"

Ryuki had no time to ask questions so he looked up ahead to see Rei, the same woman Tazuka had told her fortune to, being pulled by the neck into a window by a tentacle that was coming out of it. It was a Mirror World monster! She struggled against it but the tentacle was cutting off her air supply. Acting quickly, Ryuki shot a fireball at the tentacle and it then retreated back into the window, letting go of the woman in the process as she fell into a heap, unconscious due to lack of oxygen. Tazuka rushed over and checked her vital signs.

"She's alive," Tazuka said. Ryuki sighed in relief. Tazuka then stood up and held his deck out at the window. The Zodiac Deck was blue with a golden symbol of Pisces on the surface. Ryuki held out his Dragon Zodiac Deck too and their belts appeared on their waists.

"Henshin!" they both shouted.

"Zodiac Force!" Tazuka called, "Pisces!" and then he snapped it to his belt.

"Zodiac Force!" Ryuki called, "Dragon!" and then he snapped it to his belt.

Their belts burst with light as the armors appeared on their bodies in glass shards and their respective elements, encasing them, before they stood fully armored.

Ryuki admired Tazuka's fish-themed armor. He then remembered what Takada had told them about a new Knight. Based on his description, Tazuka was the Knight!

"Let's go!" Jawz shouted before both of them phased into the window and into the Mirror World.

* * *

Ichijyo leaned on a bookcase as he looked through the titles. He knew that he was being followed since he had left the apartment. They weren't that good at following him either. The voices he heard from them were definitely Minako and Usagi. He could feel their weird aura as soon as they got close enough.

"Pathetic," he sighed as he watched them walk into the store. They weren't even blending in with the stupid coats and hats. What was wrong with these girls? Everyone was training their sight on them and they weren't even noticing. If they were warriors then they weren't going to last five minutes.

"Where do you think he went?" asked Usagi.

"We'll find him," Usagi insisted. "Don't worry Mina-chan!"

Ichijyo sighed. Now they gave away their identities to whoever was listening. Spy material these girls were not. Even Ryuki was better at stealth then they were. Hell, even Takada was better at stealth. Their line of work demanded it.

Of course, Ichijyo was only interested in knowing why they were following him. Maybe he could have some fun with the two.

Like Ryuki, Ichijyo too had telekinetic abilities. Of course, Ichijyo's abilities were actually stronger than his friends. It made sense. While Ryuki had only awakened his psychic abilities several months ago, Ichijyo himself had been harnessing them and honing them for years, in addition to his shadow powers.

He glanced at the two girls who were doing a poor job at blending in. Snapping his fingers, he caused the bookcase that was closest to the two girls to shake. Suddenly, the books all came tumbling out of the bookcase and onto the girls.

"What's going on!?" Usagi shouted out as she was buried in books.

"That was a bookalanche!" Minako shouted but then gulped as she was the store owner looking at them. "Um…oops?"

Ichijyo quietly exited the store with a smirk. That had been unusually fun for him.

* * *

After clearing the final level, Takada stepped out of the Crown Arcade. Ami and Makoto had been watching him the whole time and were a little bored. He had blown away all the high scores and left a cheering section behind. Makoto seethed with jealousy when she saw several girls give him their cell phone numbers. While she wouldn't admit it, Ami was a little jealous as well.

"Where do you think he's going to go now?" Makoto wondered to herself.

"Well, perhaps he's exploring today," Ami suggested.

"We'd better stay sharp then," the tall brunette nodded. "We can't afford to lose him."

Meanwhile, Takada suddenly sneezed. He idly wondered if someone was talking about him. He just hoped it was an attractive girl that he had met. That way he could score a date that much easier. It never crossed his mind that someone might be wishing him harm.

* * *

Draco and Jawz arrived in the Mirror World, prepared to do battle. Their opponent stood before them, growling/hissing angrily. It looked like a red armored humanoid with an octopus for a head. The tentacles waved around as it glared at them. The monster's designation was Octozooka

It was angered at being denied its meal so it was going to take its anger out on the two Zodiac Knights. It made its move and shot out cannon ball sized ink balls at them. The two Knights leapt out of the way and watched as the 'ink bombs' blew up the ground behind them.

"We better make this quick," Jawz said. "You got any long ranged weaponry?"

Draco smiled under his helmet and said, "Don't really need it," as he produced a fireball before lobbing it at the monster. The monster got hit as the fireball combusted.

"Nice," Jawz complimented.

The monster howled and let loose with its tentacles, lashing at the two Knights. Draco was having trouble with dodging but Jawz was doing it easily, stepping away from the spot where each tentacle would eventually hit. It was like he'd planned it.

"_Sword Vent: Red Shark Sword!_" Jawz called out after drawing his card and sliding it into his shield. In an instant, a sword with a shark shaped hilt and a long and sharp blade appeared. He began swinging his weapon, slicing the tentacles as they tried to grab him.

"Sugoi…" Draco breathed out. He then watched as Jawz expertly dodged the incoming ink-bombs. The grace and gymnastic skill was excellent.

"Time we end this," Jawz said, drawing a card and sliding it into his shield. "_Final Vent!_"

All of a sudden, a red shark flew out from the ground under the Octozooka's feet and sent it falling backwards. Draco watched in amazement as Jawz leapt up and joined with the shark. He lay on the shark's back and gripped the fin as he pointed the sword forwards.

"DRILLING SHARK STRIKE!!"

The shark and Knight dove down towards the monster and began spinning like a drill. The monster couldn't flee in time before it got struck down and exploded from the attack. Jawz landed on the ground, watching as an energy orb rose up from the monster's remains. The red shark went after the orb and swallowed it before returning to its Knight's side.

"Good job, Overbite," Jawz said.

"Sugoi!" Draco exclaimed as he dashed over to the other Knight. "That was incredible! I've never seen a Final Vent like that!"

"Well, each Final Vent is unique to the Mirror Monster," Jawz shrugged. "I'm sure yours is impressive too."

Draco chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't even considering the fact that this Knight could be an enemy. He did go out of his way to rescue Rei before the Mirror Monster managed to pull her in and eat her.

"Ack! Rei-san!" Draco cried, remembering who the intended victim for the Mirror Monster was. "Gomen, but I have to go. My friend was the one being attacked."

"I understand," Jawz nodded. His visor flashed a bright blue before standing still. Draco didn't seem to notice as he turned to leave the Mirror World.

Jawz could only stand still as he watched Draco leave. He had tried to divine the future to see what would happen between Draco, his comrades, and Jawz himself, but there was a problem with his power concerning the Dragon Knight.

There were too many pathways. Draco's future was too chaotic to look at. There was no absolute concerning him and the future was unclear.

"What an interesting fellow," Jawz pondered. "He reminds me of…otouto."

* * *

Minako and Usagi were yelled at by the owner of the store before he threw them out and banned them from ever coming back. Both blondes groaned and looked to the ground. Their mission had proven to be a bust.

"I hope that teaches you two a lesson," a male voice spoke up.

Minako and Usagi gasped and looked up to see who was talking to them. Who they found was none other than Ichijyo. He had a satisfied smirk on his face and a bag of books in his lone hand.

"Ichijyo!" Minako smiled. "What a coincidence to see you here!"

"Coincidence my foot," Ichijyo frowned. "You two were following me since I left the apartment."

"How did you know it was us?" Usagi asked, genuinely surprised that they had been busted.

"Besides the fact that you just told me?" asked Ichijyo. "Well, I think anyone can notice two blondes in large coats and hats in the middle of a crowd."

"I told you the coats were too much!" Minako huffed at Usagi.

"You two weren't exactly subtle when you had that shelf of books fall down," the Snake Knight sighed, trying not to laugh about his little joke.

"Oops," both girls frowned.

"Now," Ichijyo frowned as he brought both girls to their feet. "Would either of you be willing to explain just why you were following me around? I find that sort of thing terribly annoying and I have no time for fangirls."

Both blondes gulped nervously.

* * *

"Rei-san! Rei-san!"

This was what the shrine maiden could hear as she slowly came back to the world of the living. Last thing she remembered before passing out was something wrapped around her throat and choking the life out of her. After that she felt some heat before she lost consciousness. She opened her eyes and found herself looking at Ryuki's concerned face.

"L…Leo?" she gasped out as she regained her voice.

"Hai," Ryuki nodded. "Are you okay? I found you on the ground out cold."

"Mnnn," the raven-haired young woman groaned as she slowly sat up. "Something got me from behind. I'm not sure what it was though."

"I see," Ryuki nodded. He gently took Rei's hand and brought her to her feet. She was a little wobbly for a moment before she got her balance back. "Are you sure I shouldn't take you to a doctor?"

"I'm fine, honest," Rei insisted. "I just need a little bit of rest."

"Are you sure?" Ryuki pressed. She was taking her attack amazingly well. Perhaps she hadn't seen anything after all. Others who saw what had attacked them became nervous wrecks usually.

"Yes," Rei nodded. She smiled reassuringly. "I'm just going to head home and get some rest."

"All right then," Ryuki nodded. "Do you want me to walk with you?"

Rei fought the urge to blush slightly. A cute guy walking her home was definitely something she wanted to happen to her. Her enthusiasm was tempered by the fact that she was supposed to watch him for suspicious activity. This would give her the chance to examine his aura for the demonic energy.

"Yes, please," she nodded. Ryuki smiled before he took up his stride next to Rei and they began to walk back to her home.

A few things were bothering Rei though. One was the fact that the fortuneteller she had talked to before had been right. Danger had come from behind. What was worse, the thing that had attacked her had come through a pane of glass. She knew where she was standing and no glass was broken.

She had been singled out by a Mirror Monster.

* * *

Both Ami and Makoto had been keeping an eagle eye on Takada all day. Nothing completely out of the ordinary had appeared. Takada just seemed content on walking through the district and seeing what was popular there and what wasn't. He had talked to several pretty girls and got cell phone numbers out of it for his trouble. It made Makoto jealous that those other girls thought they could just sidle up with him like they were friends. Girls like that didn't last long. It was girls like her who were real friends that got boyfriends who were keepers.

After he talked to a fair amount of girls, they followed Takada into a computer store and watch him buy new software and a bunch of computer games.

"Oh my," Ami breathed. "Those things are really expensive. They're all new releases."

"Well, I guess being a genius lets you get money opportunities," Makoto shrugged.

Takada seemed none the wiser that he was being followed. His mind was focused on the cute girls he had met on the way through the district and the new computer stuff he got. Smart Brain may have the top of the line, but backups were always handy and they never got the really good games for their computers.

Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had missed something important. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out what it could be.

* * *

Ryuki watched patiently as Rei walked to her home on the temple grounds. He felt queasy just by walking across the grounds with her. No doubt he was looking a little pale because of his little excursion.

'_Aibou. I don't like this place,_' Yaminekoryu groaned in sickness and pain. '_There's something here. It doesn't like me and wants me gone NOW! It isn't above asking some of the other spirits for help doing that!'_

Ryuki looked up and saw a pair of crows sitting on the roof of the small house. They were staring directly at him. He could tell that they were not normal crows and had some kind of spiritual power. Rei was safely inside so she wouldn't be able to see what was happening.

"I am not a demon," Ryuki spoke slowly, trying to keep his queasiness down. "It is sealed inside me and cannot get out unless I let him."

The two crows continued to stare at him before glancing at each other. They returned their gaze to Ryuki before the queasiness in Ryuki's stomach seemed to lift a little.

'_The spiritual beings here seem a little confused, but they still want me gone,_' Yaminekoryu groaned. '_Best to leave before they decide to use force._'

Ryuki nodded as he walked to the exit of the Temple. The closer he got to the stairs, the lighter his sickness got. By the time he reached the stars and was heading for the street, he was feeling as if he was never sick to begin with.

"That was a very kind thing to do," a voice spoke.

Ryuki turned to see who he was speaking and found the fortuneteller who had helped him defeat the Octozooka. He was leaning on the wall and looking at Ryuki with a kind smile on his face.

"Oh, it's you again, Mizuki-san," Ryuki smiled. "I didn't know you were following me."

"Your mind was elsewhere," the boy shrugged. "Where are you heading?"

"Home I suppose," Ryuki shrugged. "Do you wish to come? Ichijyo-san and Takada-san should be home soon anyway."

"The Knight of the Dog and the Knight of the Snake," the boy smiled. "I met them both in battle but never saw their faces. I suppose visiting would be good."

"Okay," Ryuki smiled. "It will be good to have another Zodiac Knight to hang out with."

The boy smiled warmly at Ryuki's enthusiasm. He stood up properly and decided to introduce himself, "Before I forget to mention, I am also known as Zodiac Knight Jawz; Knight of Pisces and Clairvoyance." He added, "And please, call me Tazuka."

* * *

As Hotaru whistled on her way towards her friend's home, the bullies from the other day had showed up to cause more trouble for her. They were grinning maliciously at her, which sent shivers of fear down her spine.

"Now nobody is gonna help you, freak," one of the bullies said. Hotaru ran. "Get her!"

Hotaru ran as fast as she could, panting. She wasn't exactly a healthy person and didn't have much stamina. She sometimes wasn't well coordinated either, which was why she tripped and fell on the ground after some obstacles got in her way. Getting scared, she turned to see them gaining on her. She stood up and tried to run, but then began coughing. She then felt herself pinned against a building by her pursuers. One of the bullies even had a switch blade out.

"Let's cut up her face!" one of the bullies suggested. They all began grinning in anticipation. The violet-haired girl guessed that they had finally gotten tired of just beating her up and wanted to do something a little more fun in their eyes.

Hotaru began to hear a ringing sound. It sounded familiar, but she really couldn't put her finger on where she had heard it before. Suddenly, a white shape flew out of a nearby window and tackled into the bullies, sending them to the ground.

Hotaru fell onto the ground and got on her knees. Looking up, she saw a vaguely humanoid figure standing with its back facing her. All of the bullies were out cold from the sudden impact, if not suffering some broken bones from the obvious weight of their attacker.

She then saw the thing looking at her and she instantly recognized it.

"Metalceros…" she managed to say. The humanoid rhino, Metalceros, let out a grunt. The beast then turned around and approached her. The girl sat stunned and was unable to move as the monster came closer. She just hoped it didn't come to hurt her.

It didn't. Instead, it bowed its head and began nuzzling her shoulder. Despite the large horn in the way, it was able to gently nuzzle against her. The cold white armored hide of its body tickled a little and she giggled. Metalceros backed away from her and gave off a grunt. Reaching over, Hotaru began to touch its horn. The monster let out what apparently was a happy sound.

Up above on a rooftop was a single Knight in purple armor. After having dealt with the two annoying blondes, he'd heard a signal from the Mirror World quite close by. Intending to investigate the matter, he'd arrived only to see the girl he'd rescue actually petting his secondary Zodiac Beast.

"It seems that Metalceros is in good hands," Shadowcobra said as he watched the girl stand up to gently pet the rhino monster's head. His gaze went over to the unconscious heap of bullies and he sighed, "And it seems that some people just never learn. Maybe I should deal with them personally." He went back to look at the girl and his monster. He knew she couldn't keep the Contract card on her. Metalceros would get hungry eventually and Hotaru had no way of feeding it. Also, it could draw some very nasty attention, particularly from any rival Zodiac Knights in the area, if there were any.

Hotaru questioned the beast, "Did you come to rescue me?" The humanoid and armored rhino let out a grunt and nodded, as if it could understand its words. "Why?"

Using one of its claws, the rhino, Metalceros, pointed to the card that lay on the ground. It must've fallen out of her pocket when she'd tripped. She went over to pick it up and peered curiously at the item before looking at the monster. "This is the reason? This card?" she asked. Again, she received a nod. '_Maybe that Knight sent it here to take his card back,_' Hotaru thought. "Here, take it back," she said, attempting to hand the card over but the beast shook its head and then nudged at her hand. Hotaru blinked. "You want me to keep it?" Again, she received a grunted nod.

Hotaru was unsure what to think. This card, this beast and the Knight that'd saved her seem connected and right now the card was the only reason this monster, Metalceros, had come to her aid.

Hotaru had always wanted a pet, but her mama and papa wouldn't let her. Now, her dream had become a reality, even if it was in the form of a large humanoid rhino decked out in solid looking armor for skin.

Of course, how was she going to hide it? Metalceros was just too big not to notice and knowing her adoptive parents, they would attack without hesitation.

* * *

Ryuki returned to the trio's apartment, smiling happily. He couldn't wait to tell his friends about what he'd just discovered. They would be so surprised.

He opened the door to see his two friends in the living room. Ichijyo was sitting on the couch reading one of the books he'd just purchased and Takada was playing videogames with headphones on in order not to bother Ichijyo with the noise of the game, which was a shooter. Of course, since he was always moving around on the other side of the couch, Ichijyo was growing a little agitated.

"Tadaima!" Ryuki greeted cheerfully. Ichijyo looked up and gave a nod.

"Okaeri," Ichijyo greeted back. His gaze went back to Takada who hadn't even acknowledged Ryuki's presence. Rolling his eyes, he returned to his book.

"So, how did you two spend the day?" Ryuki asked, removing his shoes as he slipped on the house slippers.

"I just went to get a few new books, though I did have a pest problem," Ichijyo spoke. He gestured towards Takada, "The mutt, on the other hand, was probably out playing games and collecting phone numbers."

Takada removed his headphones and said, "Hey, that takes a lot of effort." It was surprising how he could still hear them while wearing those headphones.

"Well, anyway, I have a surprise for you," Ryuki said. He turned towards the door, "You can come in now, Tazuka-san."

"Tazuka?" Takada said, puzzled. He looked towards Ichijyo who shrugged.

Coming into the apartment was none other than the fortuneteller Takada had met. The Dog Knight's eyes widened as he stood up and pointed, "YOU!"

Tazuka smiled, "Hello to you too."

"Do you know him, Takada?" Ichijyo said as he stood up next to his housemate.

"Damn right, I do," Takada said, pointing still at Tazuka. "He's that other Knight I told you about!"

"The other one?" Ichijyo questioned and then he realized what Takada was talking about. "The fish Knight?"

"Actually, I'm the Zodiac Knight of Pisces, Jawz," Tazuka reintroduced himself, holding out his Zodiac deck as identification. He admired the living space, "Nice place you got here."

Ichijyo hissed, "If it's a fight you want…"

"Ichijyo-san, please!" Ryuki begged. "He's a good guy. He helped me!"

Ichijyo gave Ryuki a pointed glare, "It could be a trick. Remember, this is WAR! In the end only one of us can remain. We can't trust any other!"

"Coming from you, that sounds a little hypocritical," Tazuka stated. "I mean, you're living with two other Knights who you should be fighting instead of making small talk."

"That's different," Ichijyo retorted. He reached into his coat and pulled out his deck. "Now, we shall see who's the better one."

Ryuki decided to plant himself between his two friends and his new friend. "Please, everyone, there's no need to fight."

"Still naïve as ever," Takada said, sighing. "Leo, how do you know you can even trust him?"

"Call it gut instinct," Ryuki said. "Please, just trust me on this."

Ichijyo's glare was still aimed at Tazuka but then softened at his younger friend. He sighed, rubbing his temples. "Why me…" He placed his deck back into his coat. "So, who are you?"

"Tazuka Mizuki," Tazuki introduced himself, using his given name this time. "And I know who you are, Ichijyo Amakusa, Yoshiyuki Takada," he looked at Ryuki, "And Ryuki Leonard Hasuma."

Ryuki beamed. Takada was dumbfounded. Ichijyo was scowling.

To Be Continued…


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: New Friends and Faces

Hotaru opened the door into the house she shared with Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna. She snuck in quickly, removed her shoes, and quickly ran into her room, shouting out, "Tadaima," quickly to her adopted parents. Both Haruka and Michiru didn't even have time to say 'Okaeri' before she was gone. Michiru worriedly wondered what'd made Hotaru so jittery for some reason. She'd never rushed in like that before.

"You think there's anything wrong?" Michiru asked Haruka. She was worried about bullies bugging their 'daughter' again.

"Hey, she's a growing girl," replied Haruka. She was more used to growing children being secretive about their lives. "She'll tell us when she's ready."

"OK, if you're sure."

Inside her room, Hotaru removed the contract card she held in her hand. If what she understood was right, this card was her link to the Mirror Monster depicted in it. Maybe if she had it, she could talk to him anytime she wanted. With that thought in mind, she walked towards her mirror and called, "Um…Metalceros? Metalceros, are you there?" Things were silent for a moment before she heard a ringing sound entering her ears. Looking to her mirror, she saw Metalceros staring back at her from the reflection. She smiled. "So, you live in mirrors, like Setsuna-mama said." The rhinoceros Mirror Monster nodded.

Now, though Hotaru was glad to have made a friend out of Metalceros, she was still worried. The Knights fed their monsters the energy from defeated monsters. Wild monsters fed on humans, however. Now, how was Hotaru going to take care of Metalceros until she found the card's owner?

"Are you…hungry?" she asked and the monster shook its head. Hotaru sighed, relieved. "OK, well, if you are, let me know. Maybe there's something in the fridge I can get for you." The armored beast seemed delighted at the notion. He had never tasted human food before. Maybe it would be nice.

Hotaru had to keep the card safe, since it allowed her to see Metalceros and keep him under control. From what she'd witnessed, the monster had a lot of strength and if let loose would cause a lot of damage. Besides, if either her mamas or her papa found it, they would use it to destroy him, figuring him dangerous since a Zodiac Knight didn't have him.

She went to her desk and put the card inside one of the drawers for safe keeping. Her guardians respected her privacy and wouldn't go through her things so it would be safe. She turned towards the mirror to see Metalceros peeking its head out, curious as to what she was doing. The young girl went over and reached out to pet its horn and the creature let out what would be an equivalent to a purr. Hotaru jumped when she heard a knock at the door.

"Hotaru, it's dinner time!" That was Michiru.

"I'm coming!" She turned to see Metalceros already back in the mirror world and heading to the door of her reflected room. Sighing in relief, Hotaru exited her room. Her secret was safe for now.

* * *

**The next day…**

"I don't trust him," spoke Ichijyo at breakfast one day. The trio of Knights were seating at the table this time having some French toast, sausages, bacon and eggs for breakfast and cold juice to wash it all down. Takada didn't care what they had for breakfast as long as it tasted good and both Ryuki and Ichijyo were used to having western food like this for breakfast.

Ryuki sighed. "Ichijyo-san, we've talked about this. Tazuka-san is a good person. I can tell."

Ichijyo's eyes narrowed. "I just don't trust him. He's still a Knight and possibly an enemy just waiting for us to let our guard down before striking."

Takada rolled his eyes, "Ichijyo, you don't trust _anybody_. Plus, I'm supposed to be the paranoid one here."

"Regardless, I don't feel comfortable having him coming here," Ichijyo said, crossing his arms. There was a knock at the door. "Is it that Makoto girl again?"

"I'll get it," Ryuki volunteered as he stood up before walking towards the door. He opened it up and smiled pleasantly at the person standing outside the Knights' temporary abode. "Tazuka-san! Ohayo!" Ichijyo froze. What was _he_ doing here?

"I just came to visit," said Tazuka. "Are you having breakfast?"

"We are. Why don't you join us?" Ryuki offered.

"I wouldn't want to intrude," Tazuka tried to protest but then smiled when he saw the look on Ryuki's face. "Alright. I'm in. I sure hope you have a lot of food."

"We have plenty for everyone," Ryuki said, beaming. Tazuka followed Ryuki inside before slipping off his shoes and then slipping on a pair of extra house slippers. Ichijyo made sure to but several extra pairs since they would have guests. Tazuka sat down next to Ichijyo who glared at him.

"You're awfully early," said Ichijyo.

"Well, I was in the area so I thought that I might as well drop by," said Tazuka. Ryuki found out that Tazuka also lived in the apartment complex, two floors down. It delighted him since it meant he could always visit. Tazuka took a bite off the toast. "Now this is good."

"Arigato," Ryuki smiled at the compliment.

"For a rich brat, he sure knows how to cook," said Takada. "Now, if only he could do the laundry right."

"Which is why you do it," Ichijyo reminded. He really didn't want another incident to occur which involved Ryuki and laundry. It took awhile to mop up the mess. Thankfully, Ryuki discovered the wonders of the Laundromat.

Tazuka smiled at the exchange of these younger Knights. Ryuki had accepted him and Takada didn't really care as long as he could fight, but Ichijyo…it would take a while to gain the trust of the Snake Knight.

"So, what's on the agenda today?" Tazuka asked before he took a bite of bacon. "Anything interesting you had planned today?"

"Just sitting in class and hoping not to get mobbed by girls," Ichijyo hissed. The girls seemed far too interested in him for his liking. The more he tried to drive them away, the more they kept coming onto him. His shoe locker ended up becoming full of notes that he had to dig through them for his indoor shoes.

"We will be sitting with Usagi-san, Makoto-san and Ami-san during lunch, though," Ryuki reminded. Ichijyo grimaced. Those girls were getting far too close for his taste.

"Is there a chance to just avoid them today?" Ichijyo questioned. He still remembered when Minako and Usagi had spied on him the other day. No doubt the others had spied on Ryuki and Takada too.

"Missing the chance to sit with cute girls on purpose?" Takada asked, bewildered. "Why?"

"They were snooping around the other day, and I don't like it," Ichijyo said reasonably. "It's like they were looking for some of our skeletons that were hiding in our closet."

"We have skeletons in our closets?" Ryuki asked, unfamiliar with the expression.

"He means secrets, Ryuki-kun," Tazuka explained. Ichijyo frowned. Ryuki-kun?

"Arigatou, Tazuka-niisan," Ryuki thanked the older boy. Ichijyo quirked an eyebrow. Niisan? Ryuki finished his breakfast and went to put the dish in the sink. "We should be going now."

"I agree," Ichijyo nodded. "I do not want to end up with bucket duty like that blonde bun-head."

"Well, I should be off too," said Tazuka as he stood up with his empty plate. He went over to the kitchen sink and deposited it. "I'll wash up here for you."

"No need," Ichijyo said. He didn't feel that he could trust Tazuka with being alone in their apartment. "Just leave them. They can be cleaned when we get back."

"OK then," Tazuka nodded.

* * *

As soon as the trio of boys arrived at school, it began like a typical morning for them. First off, their shoe lockers were full of love letters. While Takada was ecstatic about being popular, Ichijyo was disgusted with all the attention and would most likely find a way to dispose of these letters. Ryuki on the other hand was pleased to have so many new friends in the school. Ichijyo wondered if Ryuki was being naïve on purpose or was just an idiot.

Classes ran smoothly, thankfully. Ichijyo was in the same class with Makoto and he'd become popular. Maybe it was the allure of being the strong and silent type or maybe it was because of the forbidden fruit concept? The girls wanted him because they knew they couldn't have him? He paid them no mind but his father had taught him to be gentleman so when some of his classmates, mostly girls, came to him asking for help with unfinished English homework, he helped out as best as he could. Even if he had to ignore the silly blushes and giggles they gave when he sat next to them.

For Takada and Ryuki, while the red haired boy excelled in Physical Education, Takada was doing pretty good with math and science. He was proving to be just as smart as Ami, much to her delight. She felt a little stressed at being called the smartest girl in school but now all the attention was on Takada, who ate it all up.

Later in Chemistry, Takada did make an impression, on the wall, when his experiment exploded and sent him flying into the wall. He was unharmed but was still taken to the nurse's office by Ryuki, Usagi and Ami.

They had cooking class that day too and Ami, Takada, Ryuki and Usagi were grouped together. As good as a scientist Takada was, he wasn't a good cook. The best he could do was pour hot water into instant meals. Ryuki and Ami worked well and Usagi watched as their meal was being prepared. It looked so good and she wanted to take a few bites too.

So far, before lunch, everything was going well for them.

* * *

**Later, during lunch period…**

Ryuki was lying on his back, watching the clouds roll by above him. He was on the roof of Juuban Junior High and it was lunch period. He reached over to his side and turned his bento over to see that it was empty, save for a few grains of rice. He sighed. His stomach growled. He was still hungry.

"Why didn't I pack anything extra? I should've known I was going to get hungry again," he spoke to his demon.

'_Well, you should've thought of that earlier. Your fire powers do tend to burn off the food you eat. You need the energy_,' replied Yaminekoryu.

"I know that, but we were going to be late for school and I didn't have time to make extra," Ryuki relayed. He sat up and rubbed his tummy. "Maybe the cafeteria has something I could get."

'_By now, they must've run out of the good stuff._'

Ryuki groaned, knowing full well that his demonic tenant was right about this. It was already late. Sitting up, he stretched his arms. He got back to his feet and turned around. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw Makoto, his new neighbor. "Oh, Makoto-san! Konichiwa."

"Oh, hey, Leo," she replied, smiling. "So, what are you doing up here by yourself?"

He shrugged, "Not much, really." He picked up his bento. "Just having my lunch."

"By yourself?"

"Sometimes I like to be alone with my thoughts."

'_Ain't that the truth_,' spoke Yaminekoryu in his mind.

Ryuki's stomach growled and he laughed in embarrassment. Makoto blushed too. "So, are you here to have your lunch too?" Ryuki asked.

"Well, not exactly," Makoto admitted.

"Huh?" Ryuki tilted his head to the side.

"I was wondering if you'd like to share. I made so much and I couldn't finish it," Makoto told Ryuki. His eyes brightened at the notion of more food.

Originally, Makoto had planned to share her lunch with Ichijyo but as soon as the bell rang for lunch, Ichijyo had instantly vanished. Sure, he was cold to people and pretty much a jerk, but she knew that was not all he was. He could be nice, plus he was smart. That was why she admired him. She thought it was lucky for her to be sharing a class with him. However, he didn't speak with the others that much and focused more on the books. He was pretty much an anti-social person, which kind of irked Makoto. He wasn't all that bad looking so why didn't he try to act like he wanted to make friends?

"Arigato!" Ryuki bowed before he sat down. Makoto sat down across from him and handed him her bento. "Itadakimasu!" He opened it up and gazed into it. "Wow, this looks delicious!"

"Really?" Makoto blushed at the compliment. She watched as he shoveled the food into his mouth. "Um…Leo…"

"Hai?" he asked though his mouth was full.

"You said you practiced martial arts."

Ryuki swallowed, "That's right."

"So, you wanna maybe spar sometime. We can show each other our moves."

Ryuki thought about the answer and smiled.

* * *

"So, she got to your heart through your stomach," Takada commented. "Smart girl."

"And you said 'yes'?" Ichijyo said, earning a nod from Ryuki. It was between classes and the trio of Knights was talking in the hallways. Ichijyo placed his hand against his cheek, shaking his head. "Why?"

"She said she wanted to spar. We left an empty room for that, didn't we?" Ryuki replied.

"Yes, but you know why we can't have people coming over all the time. Our cover might be blown."

"Hey, give the kid a break," Takada defended. "And Mako-chan's cute. I say the kid should go for it."

"Go for it?" Ryuki repeated in confusion. What did Takada mean by that? His friends knew Ryuki was a little naïve with relationships. His last one had been with Takada's sister, which had ended due to them being Zodiac Knights and it would be complicated. Therefore, Ryuki was still pretty much a novice when it came to dating.

"All I'm saying is that we shouldn't trust these girls," Ichijyo informed his two partners.

"Is this because Mina-chan and Usa-chan were tailing you the other day?" Takada asked.

"Among other things. They are up to something," Ichijyo said suspiciously.

"You're just being paranoid," mocked Takada.

Ichijyo hissed, "I'm being cautious, which is a difference."

"Whatever." Takada rolled his eyes.

"Plus, we still have to take care of that Mizuki fellow," Ichijyo added. "I don't trust him."

"You don't trust anybody, not even us," Takada pointed out.

Ichijyo pointed at Takada, "You've blown up the school on several occasions," before pointing at Ryuki, "And you still have little control over your own telekinetic abilities." Ryuki frowned at the truth.

"But, she is our neighbor and has been nothing but nice to us," Ryuki spoke. "It would be nice to invite her."

"What's the point of making friends when we'll be leaving anyway?" Ichijyo shot back. He checked his watch and sighed. "I better get to class. See you two later."

* * *

Later, at the Knights' apartment, Tazuka came to visit them again.

Tazuka watched on in amazed curiosity as Ryuki and Ichijyo worked together to build a house of cards. He had dropped by for another visit and watching in amusement. It wasn't because of how cute Ryuki looked while putting the house cards together, but because both Ichijyo and Ryuki were doing it telekinetically.

"It's weird how they do it," Takada said from the couch, watching as his two closest friends used their telekinetic abilities to do something as trivial as build a house of cards.

"But still amazing," Tazuka added as he watched too. The kitchen table had been cleared and the two telekinetic teens stood across from one another, carefully floating cards up in front of them and carefully placing it on the fragile structure. "So, why are they doing this?"

"Oh, awhile back snake-face here found out that the kid could use telekinesis so he decided to teach him how to control it," Takada explained and then winced at the memory. "He tried using a brick."

"I am guessing it didn't turn out so well," Tazuka commented.

"Are you kidding? The kid had a concussion from the brick hitting him in the head over and over again. His mom didn't appreciate it." She really didn't. She'd been ready to kill Ichijyo if Ryuki hadn't defended him. Let it be said that Emiko Narukawa Hasuma would be willing to kill for the sake of her children.

* * *

Makoto was currently baking some cookies in her kitchen. They weren't of the chocolate chip kind, fortunately, as Ichijyo had warned her that Ryuki was 'allergic' to chocolate. It was partly true since Ryuki's reaction to chocolate was violent…to those around him actually. It would make him go hyper and well…with his powers it would take a short time for him to level a place if left unattended.

The cookies Makoto were making were animal shaped. After talking to Ryuki on the roof that day, sharing her lunch with him, she found out he had a soft spot for cute animals. He wanted a pet but his mother would not let him.

Makoto smiled as she took out the tray from the over. She looked over her handiwork in satisfaction. There was enough for the three boys actually, though she'd made the cookies with Ryuki on mind.

When she'd asked about his family's martial arts school, he had given her a brief summary. The martial arts style practiced was a mixture of many styles brought in by the clan's masters. Overtime they amalgamated but new styles were still being added to the school. Of course, the Hasuma School of Fighting Arts had 3 main styles.

Confrontation Style: it relies on strength, power and speed to deal critical damage. The body can become a lethal weapon. Weapons are also utilized in this style.

Defensive Style: it relies on speed and an impenetrable defense as well as using the opponent's strength against them.

Stealth Style: it relies on stealth, silence, cunning and trickery. Hidden weapons are utilized as well as the ability to turn any item on hand into a weapon.

It fascinated her and when she asked what style Ryuki practiced he admitted that he practices the Confrontation Style of his school the most while supplementing it with Defensive and Stealth styles. As he was the heir of the school, he had to master all three styles.

As Makoto was sliding the cookies onto a plate, she suddenly dropped her tray when she heard a loud BOOM! She then realized that it was coming from next door!

* * *

Ichijyo had been reading quietly in his room when he heard the loud explosion. As he hadn't smelled any smoke nor had the fire alarms been activated, he suspected that Takada was up to something.

He stormed out of his room and towards Takada's. He knocked on the door loudly and the other boy in the room opened up. "Yes?" Takada asked.

"Are you playing that computer game again?" Ichijyo questioned.

"Well…" Takada began.

"Mutt, just answer the question."

"OK, well, I just got a new sound card and wanted to test it out, so…"

"Mutt, the last time you 'tested out' something, they evacuated the entire campus and our apartment," Ichijyo reminded. "We shouldn't be attracting too much attention."

"Oh, fine…" Takada rolled his eyes. "I'll lower the volume."

"Thank you."

Ichijyo heard loud knocking at the door and went to see who it was. He opened it to see a frantic Makoto. "What happened!? I heard an explosion! Are you guys hurt!?"

"Ah, Mako-chan!" Takada suddenly appeared. "You came at last." He sniffed, "And you smell like cookies."

Ichijyo pushed Takada away and said to Makoto, "What you heard was only Takada playing one of his computer games, with the sound at full blast. It's nothing to be worried about."

"Well, if you're sure," Makoto said, relieved that nothing had happened to the trio of boys. "Where's Leo?"

* * *

Ryuki was in his room, sitting on the floor across from Tazuka. The two had been having a conversation when Ryuki discovered that Tazuka was a musician and could play a variety of instruments.

"Sugoi!" Ryuki said, amazed. "You should join our band!"

"A band, you say?" Tazuka smiled, interested. He saw the drum set in the corner of Ryuki's room.

"Hai," Ryuki nodded. "I play the drums, Takada-san plays bass and Ichijyo-san plays electric guitar."

"That is a tempting offer," Tazuka nodded. "I guess I can play keyboard."

"Great!" Ryuki beamed.

"Oh, and speaking of bands, I found this. Maybe you'll be interested," Tazuka said as he took out a folded sheet of paper and passed it to Ryuki. Ryuki unfolded it and saw that it was a flyer.

"A charity concert?" Ryuki read.

"A lot of local bands will be playing there for charity. I thought this might interest you."

* * *

"Certainly not," Ichijyo scowled, the flyer in the middle of the coffee table. "We are not entering."

"Why not?" Takada whined. "I mean this looks like a great gig."

"The last time we had a gig, we got mobbed by an army of screaming fangirls," Ichijyo replied, shuddering. "I do not want to experience that yet again."

"But it's for a good cause and it says here Puffy AmiYumi will be there too," Ryuki pointed.

"Just a gimmick," Ichijyo hissed. "And also why did you even invite the newbie into our band?"

"Tazuka-niisan is a great musician!" Ryuki defended.

"Oh? Have you heard him play?" Ichijyo asked.

Ryuki sheepishly admitted, "Well, no, not exactly, but I believe him."

Ichijyo scoffed. "Typical…" Thinking about the concert made Ichijyo think about a cute little purple haired girl whom he'd saved from becoming a spider's little fly, in other words next meal. He didn't know why he was so drawn to her. She was awfully young and all, younger than him and he wasn't very interested in having another romantic relationship, not since…

Then there was the issue of Metalceros. Hotaru now had the contract card in her possession and because of that Metalceros was bound to her now for as long as she held it. For now, Ichijyo would allow it. The monster would help protect Hotaru from bullies now and then but when it came to feeding it, Ichijyo would lend a hand as Shadowcobra.

Right now, Ichijyo was going to tune up his guitar. Since, one way or another, they would end up playing at this fundraiser anyway, he might as well get some practice done.

* * *

Hotaru was walking home from school, trying to keep a steady pace but make sure she didn't tire herself out. It was an old habit she picked up during her days of being victimized by bullies numerous times. It dropped since she was adopted by her 'parents' and even the bullies were scared when Ichijyo and Metalceros stopped them. Of course, a lot of kids were scared of being near her now, afraid that a creepy guy or a monster was going to pop out of nowhere.

'_Speaking of which,_' Hotaru gazed at the window to a store and smiled. There in the reflection was Metalceros. He had been following her all day, keeping an eye on her. Hotaru was certainly thankful for his company. He popped out at lunch and Hotaru tried to share some of her lunch with him. He ate it, but the disappointed grunts she received told her that it wasn't as filling as she hoped. That meant it would have to be humans or other monsters.

And she would never feed people to another, even if the other was her friend.

"But where am I going to find another Mirror Monster?" Hotaru frowned. She was pretty sure she could beat one. If Metalceros used his muscle and she used her magic, they could take down a monster on their own so he could eat. The problem was actually finding one.

As she began walking again, a ringing noise began to echo in her ears. Turing to Metalceros, she saw that the Mirror Monster had heard it too. Looking around, she tried to find out where it was coming from. Looking across the street, her eyes widened when she saw something following a mother pushing a stroller.

This monster looked reptile-like, but it was mostly red or gray. Its skin looked like red slime while the gray parts seemed like the metal that was holding it together. Even though it was in a reflection from across the street, Hotaru could still see the hunger that was in its eyes.

"Oh no!" she gasped in shock.

Looking around, she saw an empty alley she could go to. Ducking in quickly, she found that it had an old vanity table complete with a mirror sitting by some trash bags. Reaching into her bag, Hotaru brought out her transformation pen. Raising it into the air, she took a deep breath before calling out the words she needed.

"_Saturn Planet Power! Make Up!_"

Hotaru's body was surrounded by a purple energy before it shimmered away. She was now donned in a fuku that had a purple skirt and red bow. Clenched in her hand was a glaive that was as tall as she was. A gold tiara with a purple stone rested on her forehead. Hotaru Tomoe had become Sailor Saturn.

"Metalceros," the newly changed Senshi called. In the glass, the silver rhino Mirror Monster appeared at attention. "I need to get into the Mirror World. Can you help me?"

Metalceros snorted before he reached through the glass. Gently clasping Saturn's shoulders, he pulled her through the glass. At the same time, two young boys had heard the sound and were exchanging words before nodding to each other. They then went away, obviously planning something.

Saturn was drawn into the shining tunnel which connected the Mirror World to the Real World. Having been dragged by a wild Mirror Monster last time, Saturn could finally appreciate the beauty that the Mirror World had to offer.

"Hroo," Metalceros grunted as he hefted the small Sailor Senshi onto his shoulder.

"Right," Saturn nodded as she snapped to attention. "Let's go!"

Metalceros gave a nod before he began running down the tunnel. Saturn was amazed by the flashing lights and the crystals which seemed to grow around them. Metalceros was used to it by now and just kept running. Saturn just held on tightly, not wanting to fall off and get lost in this place.

Suddenly, Metalceros came to a stop in front of a particularly large piece of glass. He grunted to catch Saturn's attention. The small Sailor Scout nodded at the grunt and slid down from the Mirror Monster's back.

"This is it?" she asked. Metalceros snorted again, accompanied by a nod.

"Okay," Saturn nodded. Taking a breath, she prepared to move into the glass. "Here goes."

Stepping forward, Saturn found that the surface of the glass was like water. She slid through easily. The surface of the glass tingled on her skin, almost feeling like she was being coated with some strange substance.

When she finally emerged from the glass, Saturn was greeted with the view of her world devoid of people and in reverse. It was still a little strange to look at, but having seen it once already made the shock a little easier to deal with. Of course, that was nothing compared to the shock she received when she saw herself.

Her outfit had dramatically changed from before. It was still a fuku, but everything was different. The torso part had turned black, but the skirt and bow were gray. In fact, the skirt itself was metal plated. Her gloves were black with gray edges. Her boots were a metallic purple. The centre of her bow went from its normal solid centre into a gold crest which looked like a rhino's head. A purple visor covered her eyes, much like Ami's did when she activated the Mercury Computer. In her right hand, her glaive was still there, but it was a metallic purple and the blade was no longer shaped like a 'G', but a rhino's horn. On her left arm, a strange gauntlet adorned her wrist. It reminded her a lot of Metalceros' head, especially with the stubby horn sticking out of the front. On her waist, there was a loose belt that wrapped around her body with a gray case adorning the side. The case was also depicting the same rhino symbol that was on her chest.

"Oh wow," Saturn gasped.

As she was admiring her new outfit, a wet slapping sound began to echo in the spookily quiet and empty streets. Looking around, Saturn heard the noises coming closer. It wasn't too hard to figure out where it was coming from. Looking down the street, she saw the slimy metallic creature that she had spied through the window still following the lady pushing a stroller along the sidewalk.

"Hold it!" Saturn cried out, causing the Mirror Monster to stop and look up at her. "I will not allow a being from another realm to harm a mother and her child!"

"Gaooooo?" the creature grumbled. This human didn't look like one of the contractors and she certainly wasn't one of the Doubles who wandered around. How odd.

"My name is Sailor Saturn!" Saturn continued. "A warrior of Love and Justice! And in the name of the Silent Planet, I will punish you!"

She finished while pointing her glaive at the Mirror Monster in front of her. The beast certainly didn't have a clue what the human was talking about, but it knew a challenge when it saw one. Reaching to its back, red goo began to bubble out of its back. The goo spread in four directions, looking like a huge shuriken. In a half-second, the goo hardened into red/gray steel. Growling slightly, the Mirror Monster brought its weapon to bear.

Saturn withheld the urge to gulp. She was really getting in deep, but she was determined not to get in over her head. Gripping her glaive tightly, Saturn and the Mirror Monster stared each other down.

Gurgling loudly, the Mirror Monster began its charge. Swinging the ridiculously large shuriken around, it charged at her with murderous intent. Saturn readied herself and gripped her glaive tightly.

"Gaoooo!" the Mirror Monster gurgled before swinging its shuriken with the intent to remove Saturn's head.

"Hah!" Saturn cried out as she raised her glaive to defend herself. A metallic clanging noise echoed through the air as the two weapons collided.

The two sides pressed against each other in a deadlock. Saturn was rather surprised to feel her limbs filled with an amazing amount of strength. She wasn't even feeling any kind of fatigue like she usually would. Something was enhancing her stamina to an incredible degree.

The Mirror Monster was likewise surprised. It hadn't suspected that one so small would have such strength in her limbs. It would have to reconsider its method of fighting if it wanted to feast on the little one's flesh.

Leaping back, the Mirror Monster gripped its weapon. Saturn took the moment to get her nerves back. She was so surprised to feel such strength. Still, she would have to get used to it very quickly if she wanted to stop this Mirror Monster.

'_Little one,_' a soft voice echoed from inside Saturn's mind.

Saturn gasped and looked around, trying to figure out where the voice had come from. Feeling a warmth coming from her chest, she gasped when the saw the insignia of the rhino glowing with a soft purple light.

"Who…who are you?" Saturn gasped.

'_Do you forget me so quickly?_' the voice chuckled. '_The one who is called Metalceros by the humans?"_

"Metalceros?!" Saturn gasped. She could understand him? How was this happening?

'_Your bond with me strengthened when you passed into my world,_' Metalceros answered, seemingly reading her mind. '_Thus I can now speak to you when my power is infused into your magic. That can wait until later. Right now you are going to need assistance in my world._"

"Assistance?" Saturn asked.

'_Your connection with me seems to let your magic be used in my world, but it is greatly diminished,_' Metalceros explained. '_If you wish to defeat this Slimamander, you will have to fight using my power._'

"How?" Saturn asked. The Mirror Monster who she guessed was a Slimamander hadn't moved yet. She wanted to know why, but wasn't about to question such good luck.

'_The case on your side,_' Metalceros' voice echoed. '_They reflect my abilities and can give you weapons or attacks. You can even summon me if you have the right card. The object on your wrist is what connects you to my power in my world. The case is the source of the connection. Don't break it or else I will be unable to help you and will be forced to feed myself._'

"I understand," Saturn nodded.

Not wanting to risk letting the Slimamander attack again, Saturn reached to the case on her side and found a slot. Gripping something inside, she pulled it out. She peered at the card and saw the contract card that she found.

A sliding sound caught her attention and saw that the snout of the gauntlet she held had opened to reveal a hidden chamber. Saturn easily caught what she needed to do and slipped the card into the chamber. The chamber then closed automatically with another sliding sound.

"_Add Vent: Summoning Metalceros!_" the reader announced.

A loud roar echoed through the area before loud crashing noise echoed from one of the alleys. Saturn and the Slimamander looked to a nearby alley as barrels and trashcans were hurled into the air. Racing out of the alley, the armored form of Metalceros could be seen through the clearing dust.

'_You catch on quickly, Little One,_' Metalceros spoke in approval. '_Just call me and I will come._'

"Thank you," Saturn smiled happily.

The Slimamander looked between the strange tiny one and the fellow Mirror Monster that was contracted to her. Things were definitely not in its favor, but it had plenty of tricks at its disposal to use for a win.

Off in a darkened corner of the immediate area, two figures hidden in shadow were watching the battle. Both had similar builds, but their armor showed differences between the two. One had a pointed visor while the other had a jagged visor.

"Who is that?" the pointed-visor figure asked.

"Doesn't look like a Zodiac Knight," the Knight with the jagged visor shrugged. "Looks real familiar though."

"Well, we should help her out," said the pointed-visor figure but the one with the jagged visor held him back. "Lion?"

"Hold on, Tiger," said Lion. "I want to see how well she can handle herself."

Tiger frowned under his helmet but obediently nodded as he returned to watch the fight.

Metalceros charged at the Slimamander who slipped out of the way of its charge only to be struck across the back by Saturn's glaive. It turned and spat some slime at her which hit her visor. She tried to claw the gunk of her visor and the Slimamander took this as its chance to attack with its large shuriken. However, it never got the chance as Metalceros rammed it in the side and sent it flying before going over to defend Saturn.

"Never have I seen a Mirror Monster so protective of its contractor," Lion observed. "Even one who isn't a Knight."

"You think she's holding another Knight's contract?" asked Tiger.

"I'm guessing so," said Lion. "Come on."

"Huh?"

"Let's go say hello."

The Slimamander then spun around and around before tossing its weapon through the air. The shuriken sliced through the air, flying directly towards Saturn and Metalceros. Concerned over the little girl over its own welfare, Metalceros shielded Hotaru's body with his own, grabbing her within a protective embrace and tucking in its head to brace against the impact.

"Metalceros!" she cried, still blinded by the gunk on her visor. She didn't want to lose her new friend so quickly.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound of two objects colliding with each other, sending sparks flying. Hotaru dared to look and gasped when she saw two Zodiac Knights in similar armor deflecting the shuriken with their axes. One was wearing black armor over a red bodysuit. His shoulders were shaped like lion paws and his visor was red with jagged edges. The other one contrasted him in terms of color, clad in white armor with blue stripes over a blue bodysuit. His visor had black stripes on it, one coming down and three running across.

"Hey, little girl, are you okay?" the white and blue Knight asked. He was armed with a battle axe. Saturn nodded silently.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Tiger, and my partner here is Lion," Tiger pointed to himself than to Lion who was armed with a double edged axe.

"Spare the pleasantries for later, Tiger," commanded Lion. "We have a monster to kill."

"Sure," Tiger saluted. "Let's do this!"

Both Zodiac Knights roared and then rushed at the Slimamander before attacking it in tandem and brutally. The Slimamander wasn't shown any mercy since it possessed none thus deserved none. Sparks flew as the axes hacked away at its body. Saturn managed to wipe the rest of the gunk away to watch the fight as Metalceros continued to protect her. Metalceros had little trust for Knights outside the group its master belonged too.

"Strike Vent!" the two Knights called after sliding their cards into their axes. Their weapons vanished and then gauntlets with long and sharp bladelike claws appeared over their forearms. With them they resumed their attack, hacking and slashing away at the Slimamander.

"Sugoi," Saturn whispered.

The Slimamander was feeling overwhelmed. Even its weapon lay useless on the ground after the relentless assault.

"Now!" commanded Lion. Tiger nodded and ran up towards Lion from behind. He leapt up and landed on Lion's shoulders before vaulting upwards. Lion then charged for the Slimamander with his claws enveloped in flames. At the same time, Tiger was coming down with frost energy surrounding his own claws.

FLASH!

SLASH! SLASH!

Tiger landed on one knee with his arms spread to the side as Lion stood beside him, claws crossed in front of his chest. The Slimamander stood like a statue before exploding into a fiery blaze. The two Knights watched in satisfaction as their quarry was defeated.

They turned their attention back towards Saturn and Metalceros. The Rhino Mirror Monster remained vigilant as it watched the two Knights approaching them. Neither of them looked like they had wanted to fight, but in Saturn's line of work one couldn't be too sure about the looks of some people, even if Minako and Makoto would forget about that in the face of a hot guy now and then.

"Well, now that the monster has been dealt with," Tiger spoke up. "Who the heck are you?"

"My exact question," Lion nodded. "You definitely aren't a Zodiac Knight. How'd you get a contract?"

"Don't you recognize me?" Saturn asked in confusion. She then looked down at herself before realizing she didn't look like she usually did. "Oh, right. Of course you wouldn't. My costume is different. Well, I'm Sailor Saturn."

"No way!" Tiger cried. He stepped closer to the young Senshi, but Metalceros growled warningly. "Seriously?! Wow! I've heard all about you and the other Senshi!"

"But how did you get here in the Mirror World?" asked Lion. "Where did you get your contract?"

Saturn began to answer, but then remembered something. Setsuna had told them all that the Zodiac Knights were split into two groups. One was a group who fought for the betterment of all humanity and wished to help others rather than themselves. The others fought for selfish reasons, wanting power or other such things. How could she tell which side these two are on?

"Which side are you guys on?" she asked suspiciously.

"Huh?" asked Tiger. "What-?"

"She knows about the war," Lion interrupted. Sighing, he looked at Saturn. "We are on the side of good. Our wish is our business, but it is for someone else rather than ourselves."

Saturn knew that he might be lying. Still, she needed to trust somebody. Having more good Zodiac Knights around would certainly help with the Mirror Monsters who were running around the area. The four that were here already were good, but more of them around would always be good.

"Metalceros brought me here when I asked him," Saturn answered. "I got the contract when a Zodiac Knight dropped it while saving me."

"A Knight dropped his contract?" asked Tiger. "Wow. He must some kind of goof if he did that. He'll be a sitting duck."

"Use your head, Tiger," Lion sighed. "All of our initial contracts are like our zodiac signs. A rhino isn't one of them."

"So it's a secondary contract?" asked Tiger.

"It seems so," Lion nodded. He then looked back to Saturn. "I am a little surprised to see that it is compatible with other people."

Before the three could continue talking, a gurgling sound resounded behind them. Turning around, they saw the orb from the Slimamander becoming covered with red goo.

"Crap!" Lion cursed. "Tiger, didn't you get the core?"

"No!" Tiger shouted. "I thought you did!"

"What's going on?" Saturn questioned.

"That damn thing is regenerating!" shouted Tiger.

"Regenerating?"

"It's what happens when a core isn't absorbed," explained Lion. "The monster will come back and most of the time it evolves."

Lion wasn't wrong in this case. The red goo and pieces of metal combined over the core and molded into a large four-legged beast. It looked somewhat more like a salamander, but it appeared like it was mixed with a dinosaur.

"Slimasaurus," Tiger gulped. "Just our luck."

"Well, we know what we need to do," Lion frowned. He pulled out his axe and grabbed one of his cards. A chamber in the axe opened before Lion slipped the card inside before shutting it.

"_Add Vent: Summoning Savageleon!_"

"Sounds good to me!" Tiger nodded as he lipped a card inside of his similarly designed axe.

"_Add Vent: Summoning Destwilder!_"

Two loud roars echoed from nearby before two large cat-like humanoids leaped down from the top of buildings. One had black and red armor with a mane coming down its back while the other was white with blue stripes, indicating that it was a tiger.

"Let's go!" Lion called as he and Savageleon dashed forward.

"Right!" Tiger nodded before he and Destwilder followed their ally.

"Us too!" Saturn called as she and Metalceros followed the two Knights.

The six fighters charged at the dinosaur-like monster. The two cat monsters slashed at two of the legs while Lion and Tiger hacked at one leg together. Metalceros and Saturn went at the final leg.

"GAROOOOOO!" the Slimasaurus bellowed as it began shooting huge globs of red ooze at them.

"Look out!" Tiger called out.

All six fighters went in all directions to avoid the car-sized glob. It splattered onto the ground with a loud splat. Saturn looked to see the result and her eyes widened as she saw the red ooze actually melting the road where it had hit.

"Woah," she gulped.

"Yeah, not like the Youma and such you fight, is it?" asked Tiger.

"Only the really bad guys have attacks like this," Saturn gulped.

"Well, we have to deal with this all the time," Lion grunted as he got to his feet. "Better keep up!"

"GAROOOOOOO!!" the Slimasaurus roared before firing off more globs of acidic ooze.

"Scatter!" Tiger cried, signaling the fighters to run for cover.

Saturn gripped the case on her hip and pulled out one of the cards. Opening her reader, she slipped the card inside.

"_Guard Vent: Ironback Shield!_"

A large shield appeared in her hand. It was shaped like Metalceros' back and looked just as tough. It was surprisingly light which Saturn immediately used. It was in perfect timing since a red glob was coming at her. The acidic substance collided with the shield, splattering onto the ground, but missing Saturn and Metalceros. Still, there was a sizzling noise and Saturn had to drop the shield before watching it melt into the ooze.

"Darn," Saturn frowned.

"Less standing and more moving!" Tiger called.

Saturn moved quickly at the call. Checking her surroundings, she saw that the two Zodiac Knights and their contracts were trying to attack the Slimasaurus' legs. Following, Saturn and Metalceros charged for one of the unoccupied legs that looked like it needed a good beating. Swinging her glaive, she let it dig into the gooey flesh while Metalceros pounded away with his considerable strength.

The giant Mirror Monster roared in pain and spun in a single direction, aiming to hit all the nuisances with its tail. The collected warriors dashed for the sides to avoid getting hit, which they just barely managed to do. When the tail was not swinging, Saturn made a charge for underneath the beast. She just got inspired for a plan of attack. She just hoped that it worked!

"Wait!" Lion cried out. "You'll get crushed!"

Saturn didn't listen as she continued running. Metalceros was right behind her as the pair managed to get underneath the slimy reptile a second time. This time Saturn knew what she had to do if she wanted a chance to bring down the creature.

"Here goes," she muttered as she raised her glaive. "_Saturn Silence Glaive Surprise!_"

The energies collected into the glaive and Saturn felt the attack charge up. Readying herself, she took aim at the joint on one of the front legs. Finally feeling the attack was ready, she launched it with all the force she could muster. The magical attack seemed to be a little smaller than usual, but it still flew. The purple sphere of power collided with the joint in a loud explosion which made the creature screech in pain. It stumbled onto its side before slipping on its own slimy skin and falling onto its back.

"Well I'll be," Tiger laughed. "The little girl actually did it."

"Think she can finish it though?" asked Lion.

"We're about to see."

Saturn didn't let herself get distracted. Running to the front of the monster, she gave herself some space. She would have to destroy it now or else it was just going to get back up again and be REALLY mad!

"Here we go," she spoke softly to herself. Slipping a card out of the case, she slipped it into the gauntlet.

"_Final Vent!_"

Metalceros bellowed and charged around behind Saturn. Stomping its feet, it then began to run directly towards the Slimasaurus and at Saturn. The changed Sailor Scout seemed to anticipate the oncoming Mirror Monster as she leaped into the air. As Metalceros charged underneath her, she landed on his shoulder in a comfortable sitting position. Metalceros continued its charge as it dashed even faster towards the downed monster.

"Hyaaaa!" Saturn cried as she held out her glaive as a lance. Metalceros seconded the call as it charged straight into the maw of the giant Mirror Monster. The weapon cleaved through the flesh like a hot knife through butter before the beast exploded in a huge ball of fire. Lion and Tiger had to cover their eyes to avoid being blinded by the flash of light. As it died down, they looked to see Saturn getting off Metalceros' back as he reached for the glowing core. The rhino-like monster gave of a happy cry before it began chowing down on the core.

"I admit it," Tiger laughed. "You did pretty well; for a rookie to this side of the tracks anyway."

"Could be better," Lion shrugged. "But you're only a rookie at fighting Mirror Monsters so I can be lenient."

Saturn huffed slightly at the critique of her skills. She had been dealing with youma and other monsters for a while and these guys called her a rookie? Well, true she was not used to fighting Mirror Monsters, but she was getting better! She just needed a little bit of experience.

She wanted to try and say something more, but she started to notice something odd. It seemed like a haze of…something was coming off of her. Confused, she looked over at Lion and Tiger. Sure enough, there was some of the same stuff coming off of them too.

"Uh-oh," Tiger frowned behind his helmet as he witnessed the dissolving himself. "Time's up. We gotta go."

"Right," Lion nodded. He waved to Saturn before turning to leave with his partner. "See ya."

"Hey! What's going on?" Saturn asked loudly. She felt so out of the loop it wasn't even funny.

"We can only spend so much time here," Tiger answered. "Spend too long and you dissolve. Find a mirror fast or else you're a goner."

"R-right!" Saturn nodded. Looking around, she spotted a large pane of glass which made up a store window. With time seemingly so short, she dashed for the reflective surface. She left Metalceros, Lion, and Tiger behind as she dove at the glass. She passed through it like liquid as Lion and Tiger vanished through their exit point.

* * *

Ichijyo had been passing through the town in hopes of finding a café. With the pressures of fangirls, Tazuka, Takada's stupid upgrades, and more of Usagi and her friends eyeing him, he just needed a release. Someplace quiet was all he asked for.

Of course, that was when the tone started up. Sighing, he prepared to draw his case when he saw a store window ripple. Fearing that this monster would be a gazelle-type or one with similar speed, Ichijyo prepared to go as fast as he could. However, he was pleasantly proven wrong when he saw a Sailor Senshi in a purple and white outfit fall out of the rippling glass and onto the street.

Normally Ichijyo didn't care too much for the Sailor Senshi, but Saturn was a different case. He was sure of her identity now since he had seen her exit from the Mirror World. Of them all, Ichijyo felt he could at least get along with Saturn. Even if he didn't know who she was, she being the Senshi of Destruction and Rebirth meant they had at least a common wavelength in terms of abilities.

Saturn sat up and shook her head. Ichijyo could tell that the transportation method between worlds was not for those with weak stomachs. It still surprised him that she had managed to enter the Mirror World, but Metalceros probably had a role in that trip. With people starting to circle around her, Saturn roof hopped away from them and took flight.

"Better see if she's okay," Ichijyo sighed. He was getting soft from hanging out with Ryuki. Taking his case, he slipped into an alley and went for a reflective surface.

* * *

Saturn panted as she landed on an empty rooftop. That had been a rush. Once the effects of the adrenaline wore off, she fell to her knees. What she'd experience had been incredible. Traveling into the mirror world, fighting a monster, and then using the Zodiac Knights' power had been incredible.

"I can't wait to tell everyone," she murmured.

"That's not a good idea." Saturn spun around in panic, gripping her Glaive which she aimed at the direction of the voice. She gasped when she saw the violet clad Knight standing before her with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Shadowcobra!" she exclaimed and stood up. Unfortunately, she stumbled but luckily for her Shadowcobra was there to help her steady her feet. "Thank you." She blushed a little as he held her shoulders.

He pulled his hands away and spoke, "I saw what happened. You went into the Mirror World, didn't you?"

"Yes," Saturn nodded. She then remembered the card and took it out. She presented it to her. "Here, this belongs to you."

Shadowcobra eyed the card momentarily. "No," he declined the offer, surprising her.

"What?" Saturn blinked in confusion. Didn't he want it back? "Why don't you want it back?"

"Because I can see it's in good hands," Shadowcobra explained, "And I believe Metalceros doesn't want to leave you yet, does he?"

"No, I don't think so," Saturn recalled. Metalceros had protected and aided her in the battle. "Is it because of this card?"

"Well, once a Knight makes a contract with a Mirror Monster, the monster pledges obedience to the Knight in exchange for food," Shadowcobra said. "Failure to do so on the Knight's end can end badly." Saturn gulped. "However, there are exceptions." He took out his Genosnaker card and the monster on the card jumped out of it. The cards, when mirrors or reflective surfaces weren't available, could be used as doorways for the monsters. Saturn gawked at the gigantic purple cobra. It bent down to stare and hiss at her. Shadowcobra reached under his monster's chin and scratched a spot that made Genosnaker release an affectionate hiss. "If you treat your monster well, even if the contract is broken, they will not attack you." He patted Genosnaker's head. "The monsters are not tools or weapons. They are your partners in battle." While he was a loner, he did enjoy Genosnaker's company.

"Really?" Saturn realized as she stared at the card. Metalceros' image stared back at her and she could hear it grunt. She smiled.

"Really," nodded Shadowcobra.

"Ano…Shadowcobra-san," Saturn asked politely. "Why do you fight?"

Shadowcobra averted his eyes from her gaze as he clenched his fists. Genosnaker noted its master's discomfort and nuzzled him. "I have my reasons," Shadowcobra murmured.

"Oh," Saturn nodded. She could tell that it was something that he didn't want to talk about. It was probably something painful for him. Saturn had used the same tone of voice when she didn't want to talk about the bullies who had bothered her in the past. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault," Shadowcobra replied softly. "Anyway, I believe Metalceros is happier with you at the moment. Besides, you girls could use the help when it comes to Mirror Monsters in my opinion."

"Mnnn," Saturn mumbled. She didn't want to agree, but she had heard how some of the Mirror Monsters had been really tough to beat. "Well, it can't hurt."

"No, it certainly can't. Just keep him fed and there shouldn't be any real problems," Shadowcobra explain. "I would keep him away from your Outers if I were you. I understand they have a problem with shooting first and asking questions never."

"Yeah," Saturn nodded. Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama did tend to talk with their attacks when it came to an enemy. "If I ever need help, how can I find you?"

"Just call my name," said Shadowcobra.

With that, Shadowcobra stepped away and slipped through a puddle that had remained on the roof. Saturn watched him go with a fondness in her eyes and a blush on her cheeks. She sighed softly and turned back in the direction of her home. Images of Shadowcobra being such a gentleman remained in her mind. It was like out of a manga!

Saturn would remain on that emotional high for the rest of the day.

* * *

Setsuna watched the conversation between Senshi and Knight with a smile on her face. She knew that Hotaru now had a Mirror Monster contract, but feeding it wouldn't be a problem. She was in good hands. It was probably better that they keep Metalceros secret for a while though. Haruka and Michiru could go into snap judgments when it came to their little one. On the bight side, Shadowcobra proved himself a friend to at least Sailor Saturn.

Now all that remained was to confirm that with the other three confirmed Knights.

* * *

Though Ichjyo admitted to having no trust or faith in the Senshi, he felt that he and Saturn had a connection. Also, he now knew her identity if anything confirmed it like his contract ending up in her hands. Still, he had to watch her. Having a contract like that on her could definitely make her a target.

As Ichijyo opened the door to his apartment, he was suddenly flung backwards by a blast of sound which tilted his glasses and messed up his hair. Grumbling and hissing in annoyance, Ichijyo went inside to check out what was going on. Much to his chagrin, he saw that Takada had two 8 foot tall speakers and had connected his bass guitar to it. "What in the world are those?" Ichijyo demanded.

"Oh, just something I bought online," said Takada.


End file.
